A parliament is a legislature. More specifically, "parliament" may refer only to a democratic government's legislature. The term is derived from the French parlement, the action of parler: a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which such a discussion took place. It acquired its modern meaning as it came to be used for the body of people who would meet to discuss matters of state. Generally, a parliament has three functions: representation, legislation and parliamentary control.