The Collaborative International Dictionary
States-general \States"-gen"er*al\ (st[=a]ts"j[e^]n"[~e]r*al), n.
In France, before the Revolution, the assembly of the three orders of the kingdom, namely, the clergy, the nobility, and the third estate, or commonalty.
In the Netherlands, the legislative body, composed of two chambers.
Wikipedia
The word States-General, or Estates-General, may refer to:
Currently in use
- States General of the Netherlands (Staten-Generaal) is the bicameral government of present-day Netherlands. It has evolved from the representative government of the Seventeen Provinces, later of the United Provinces, which was also called states general.
- Estates-General on the Situation and Future of the French Language in Quebec, the name of a commission set up by the government of Quebec on June 29, 2000
Historically
- Estates General (France)
- Estates-General of 1789
- States-General of the Batavian Republic
- Estates General of French Canada (1967–69)
Usage examples of "states-general".
In the first he desired to know how to obtain a favourable decision from the States-General in an important matter, the details of which he explained.
The state messenger who ordered him to leave London has convinced him the English minister was not duped by the demand for his person to be given up, made by the Comte d'Afri in the name of the king to the States-General.