plenary

American  

[plee-nuh-ree, plen-uh-] / ˈpli nə ri, ˈplɛn ə- /

adjective

1. full; complete; entire; absolute; unqualified.

   plenary powers.

2. attended by all qualified members; fully constituted.

   a plenary session of Congress.

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noun

plural

plenaries

1. a plenary session, meeting, or the like.

plenary British  

/ ˈplɛn-, ˈpliːnərɪ /

adjective

1. full, unqualified, or complete

   plenary powers

   plenary indulgence

2. (of assemblies, councils, etc) attended by all the members

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noun

1. a book of the gospels or epistles and homilies read at the Eucharist

Other Word Forms

• plenarily adverb

Etymology

Origin of plenary

First recorded in 1375–1425; from Late Latin plēnārius ( see plenum, -ary); replacing late Middle English plener, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin plēnāris ( see -ar ¹)

Explanation

If something is full or complete, you can describe it as plenary. When you get to be a teenager, your parents can give you plenary responsibility for your siblings when they go out. They pay pretty well to boss the kids around! Although the adjective plenary can be used to describe anything that is full or complete, it most often describes a full meeting session, as in a political meeting or a board meeting. The school board met in a plenary session today to discuss the purchase of land for a new high school. When you got asked to be the plenary speaker at the board meeting, you made sure to put it on your resume right away.

Example Sentences

There is one female toilet with two cubicles near the plenary chamber, though the entire building itself has nine female toilets with 22 cubicles.

From BBC • Jan. 1, 2026

The plenary session of the national electoral council CNE "declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah elected for a four-year term," the council's president Ana Paola Hall said.

From Barron's • Dec. 24, 2025

However, there is one area in which the president does have absolute plenary authority: The power of the pardon.

From Salon • Nov. 16, 2025

This week’s conclave, known as the Fourth Plenum, is the Central Committee’s fourth plenary meeting in its current term.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 23, 2025

But those short moments had made it all worthwhile, those moments of pure plenary abandon, when he felt as if he, and he alone, were in control of the universe of his childhood.

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie