Lĕg'is-lā-ture, n.

(lĕj'is-lāt'yur, 53) (Synop., § 130), n. [Fr. législature, It. & Sp. legislatura. See LEGISLATE.] The body of men in a state or kingdom invested with power to make and repeal laws; the supreme power of a state.

The legislature of Great Britain consists of the Lords and Commons, with the king or queen, whose sanction is necessary to every bill before it becomes a law. The legislatures of most of the United States consist of two houses or branches; but the sanction of the governor is required to give their acts the force of law, or a concurrence of two thirds of the two houses after he has declined and assigned his objections.