tricameraladj.
/(ˌ)trʌɪˈkam(ə)rəl/, /(ˌ)trʌɪˈkam(ə)rl̩/, U.S. /traɪˈkæm(ə)r(ə)l/ 1. Having, consisting of, or characterized by three chambers or parts.In later use esp. of a legislative system; cf. bicameral adj. and sense 2.
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1897 C. Tsountas & J. I. Manatt Mycenaean Age vi. 135 The first example of this class to become known to us was the great tri-cameral tomb at Spata in the Attic Midland.
1942 Amer. Anthropologist 44 699 The organisation is actually tricameral, with a rather equal dispersion of powers between military, civil, and church groups.
1980 Internat. Organization 34 280 The notion of a tricameral parliamentary system has several weaknesses.
2003 Michigan Law Rev. (Nexis) 101 952 Loose construction cannot be the cause of our tricameral legislative system (tricameral because the veto power makes the President in effect a third house of Congress).
2. South African. Designating or relating to the parliamentary structure in force 1984–94, with three chambers representing respectively white, Asian, and Coloured (coloured adj. 3d) people (now historical). Also in extended use: racially divided.
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1982 Washington Post 1 Aug. a14/1 [He] expressed reservations about the proposal to establish a tricameral Parliament in which whites, Asians and Coloreds would sit in separate legislative chambers.
1990 Weekly Mail (Johannesburg) 2 Mar. 22 We still have a tricameral television service.
1993 Guardian 23 Dec. i. 8/2 Mr De Klerk told the joint sitting of the tricameral parliament..that the vote represented ‘the last decision’ by a South African parliament with ‘completely unfettered powers’.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, March 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1897