上述单词均有议会的含义。其中，Parliament主要指英国、加拿大等国的议会，其包括君主、上议院和下议院（consisting of the monarch，the House of Lords，and the House of Commons ) [1]。 town council则为英格兰或苏格兰等地的郡议会。Congress是美国国会，包括参议院和众议院（consisting of Senate and House of Representatives)，但尤指众议院[2]。而 General Assembly 是指美国的州议会Diet指日本议会和丹麦议会等[4]。Reichstag是指旧时德意志帝国德国会或德国国民议会下议院[5]，德意志联邦共和国议会(Federal Parliament)由Bundestag (德意志联邦共和国下议院）[6]和Bundesrat或Bundesrath (联邦德国上议院）[7]组成，各省的议会则称为Landtag[8]。现在的法国议院则由一两院制议会（bicameral Parliament)组成，包括“参议院” （Senate) 和“国民议会” (National Assembly) [9]。中国的立法机关则是National People’s Congress (中国人民代表大会）。Duma为俄罗斯国的议会[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).