上述單詞均有議會的含義。其中，Parliament主要指英國、加拿大等國的議會，其包括君主、上議院和下議院（consisting of the monarch，the House of Lords，and the House of Commons ) [1]。 town council則為英格蘭或蘇格蘭等地的郡議會。Congress是美國國會，包括參議院和眾議院（consisting of Senate and House of Representatives)，但尤指眾議院[2]。而 General Assembly 是指美國的州議會Diet指日本議會和丹麥議會等[4]。Reichstag是指舊時德意志帝國德國會或德國國民議會下議院[5]，德意志聯(lián)邦共和國議會(Federal Parliament)由Bundestag (德意志聯(lián)邦共和國下議院）[6]和Bundesrat或Bundesrath (聯(lián)邦德國上議院）[7]組成，各省的議會則稱為Landtag[8]?，F(xiàn)在的法國議院則由一兩院制議會（bicameral Parliament)組成，包括“參議院” （Senate) 和“國民議會” (National Assembly) [9]。中國的立法機關(guān)則是National People’s Congress (中國人民代表大會）。Duma為俄羅斯國的議會[10]。

[1] " The supreme legislative body of some nations，esp.，in the United Kingdom, the national legislature consisting of the monarch, Commons. " Cf. Bryan A. Gamer, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th edition, at p. 1139，West Croup (1999). “The Parliament of Canada. ”Cf. Daphne Dukelow, The Dictionary of Canadian Law, at p. 747 , Thomson Professional Publishing Canada (1991).

[2]“ The legislative branch of the United States government. " Cf. Linda Picard Wood, J. D. , Merriam Websters Dictionary of Law, at p. 96 Meniam-Webster, Incorporated (1996).