cross-bencher
/ˌkɹɒsˈbɛnt͡ʃə/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.03 in modern English
21
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A member of the British House of Lords or the Senate of Canada or Australia who sits on a cross-bench, or who proclaims independence or political neutrality.
Example Sentences
- "Putting the hereditary nobility to one side, the life peers, and especially the cross-benchers, carry on an older, less narrowly professional tradition of distinguished service: rule by the ‘great and the good’, if not necessarily the best and brightest."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der.? Proto-Italic *kruks /*krukis Latin cruxbor. Old Irish crosbor. Old Norse krossbor. Old English cros Middle English cross Middle English cros- English cross- English bench English cross-bench Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English cross-bencher From cross-bench + -er.