polysynody

English

Etymology

From French polysynodie.

Noun

polysynody (plural polysynodies)

1. (chiefly historical) A form of government administered by several councils rather than individual ministers; specifically that of Regency France from 1715-1718.
   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 40:

     The abbé de Saint-Pierre, for example, saw in the principle of Polysynody a framework for refashioning the polity so as to make it markedly less authoritarian than under Louis XIV.

   • 2006, Ellen M McClure, Sunspots and the Sun King, page 262:

     Government under polysynody is the affair of human individuals, who through their own efforts create an entity that surpasses them.

   • 2004, Joseph Pérez, translated by Janet Lloyd, The Spanish Inquisition, Bookmarque, published 2006, page 108:

     The Council was thus wholly dependent upon the civil authorities. It constituted one of the elements of the polysynody that was characteristic of the Hapsburgs.

Translations

form of government

• Italian: polisinodia f