French for ball, boule is also what you call a round loaf of bread (french bread) - yes, they also make bread that's round. Silly. French bread that's in the familiar long stick form is a baguette.

Also the French name for the metal balls used in pétanque.

A legislative council of ancient Greece consisting first of an aristocratic advisory body and later of a representative senate.

Revision thanks to Anacreon:
Boule legislative councils did not exist in every Greek city of the era. The primary or most notable Boule was the council over Athens.

Boule (&?;), Boule"work` (&?;), n.

Same as Buhl, Buhlwork.

 

© Webster 1913

---

Bou"le (?), n. [Gr. &?;.]

1. (Gr. Antiq.)

A legislative council of elders or chiefs; a senate. The boule of Homeric times was an aristocratic body of princes and leaders, merely advisory to the king. The Athenian boule of Solon's time was an elective senate of 400, acting as a check on the popular ecclesia, for which it examined and prepared bills for discussion. It later increased to 500, chosen by lot, and extended its functions to embrace certain matters of administration and oversight.

2.

Legislature of modern Greece. See Legislature.

 

© Webster 1913