Definition of "states-general" []

• 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. (noun)
• In the Netherlands, the legislative body, composed of two chambers. (noun)

Gnu Collaboartive International Dictionary of English: licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

• "Just at the very time in life when this illusion had not been destroyed by the realities of life, and without the experience which might have taught the futility of idle dreams and theories, he was elected to the states-general."
• "Scarcely had Philip le Bel summoned the commons to the states-general, before Edward, king of England, adopted the like measure, in order to balance the great power of the barons."
• "The states-general of the Ottoman Empire are the janissaries and cavalry; in Algiers and Tunis, it is the militia."