The Collaborative International Dictionary
Senate \Sen"ate\, n. [OE. senat, F. s['e]nat, fr. L. senatus, fr. senex, gen. senis, old, an old man. See Senior, Sir.]
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An assembly or council having the highest deliberative and legislative functions. Specifically:
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(Anc. Rom.) A body of elders appointed or elected from among the nobles of the nation, and having supreme legislative authority.
The senate was thus the medium through which all affairs of the whole government had to pass.
--Dr. W. Smith. The upper and less numerous branch of a legislature in various countries, as in France, in the United States, in most of the separate States of the United States, and in some Swiss cantons.
In general, a legislative body; a state council; the legislative department of government.
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The governing body of the Universities of Cambridge and London. [Eng.]
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In some American colleges, a council of elected students, presided over by the president of the college, to which are referred cases of discipline and matters of general concern affecting the students. [U. S.]
Senate chamber, a room where a senate meets when it transacts business.
Senate house, a house where a senate meets when it transacts business.
Wikipedia
Senate House is a term frequently used to describe the main administrative building of a university.
Buildings called Senate House include:
- Senate House (University of Cambridge) of the University of Cambridge
- Senate House (University of London) of the University of London
- Senate House (University of Madras) of the University of Madras
- Senate House (University of Peradeniya) of the University of Peradeniya
- Senate House State Historic Site, in Kingston, New York, where the state of New York was established in 1777.
The Senate House of the University of Cambridge is now used mainly for degree ceremonies. It was formerly also used for meetings of the Council of the Senate.
Senate House is the administrative centre of the University of London, situated in the heart of Bloomsbury, London between the School of Oriental and African Studies to the east, and the British Museum to the south. The Art Deco building was constructed between 1932 and 1937 as the first phase of a large uncompleted scheme designed for the University by Charles Holden. It consists of 19 floors and is high.
Today the main building contains the University of London's Central Academic Bodies and activities, including the offices of the Vice-Chancellor of the University, the entire collection of the Senate House Library, and eight of the ten research institutes of the School of Advanced Study. During the Second World War, the building's use by the Ministry of Information inspired two noted English writers. Graham Greene's novel The Ministry of Fear (1943) and its film adaptation Ministry of Fear by Fritz Lang (1944) set in Bloomsbury. George Orwell's wife Eileen worked in Senate House for the Censorship Department of the Ministry of Information, and her experiences acted as the description of the Ministry of Truth in Orwell's 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.
The Senate House is the administrative centre of the University of Madras in Chennai, India. It is situated in Wallajah Road, along Marina Beach. Constructed by Robert Chisholm between 1874 and 1879, the Senate building is considered to be one of the best and oldest examples of Indo-Saracenic architecture in India.
Usage examples of "senate house".
All the consul's friends, all Pompey's connections, all those who bore any ancient enmity to Caesar, were forced into the senate house.
A faithful picture, however, which preceded his arrival, and was placed by his immediate order over the altar of Victory in the senate house, conveyed to the Romans the just but unworthy resemblance of his person and manners.