council A council is a group of people that gathers for the purpose of giving advice or making decisions. If you’re president of the student council, for example, you might organize people to get the hallways at your school painted purple. counsel When you give counsel or counsel someone, you give advice. If your neighbor is suing you because your dog keeps eating his begonias, you might seek the counsel of a dog trainer or, if that doesn't work, a lawyer. [Source.](https://www.vocabulary.com/articles/chooseyourwords/council-counsel/)