consortium

noun

con·​sor·​tium kən-ˈsȯr-sh(ē-)əm 

-ˈsȯr-tē-əm

plural consortia kən-ˈsȯr-sh(ē-)ə 

-ˈsȯr-tē-ə

also consortiums

1

: an agreement, combination, or group (as of companies) formed to undertake an enterprise beyond the resources of any one member

A consortium of researchers decoded the honeybee genome.

2

: association, society

3

: the legal right of one spouse to the company, affection, and assistance of and to sexual relations with the other

Synonyms of consortium

• organization
• institute
• association
• institution
• society
• chamber
• fraternity
• group
• council
• board

Examples of consortium in a Sentence

A Japanese consortium invested millions in the technology.

a consortium for the prevention of animal cruelty

Recent Examples on the Web

The national consortium brings US national laboratories and industry together to develop and apply AI across nuclear energy. — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 5 Aug. 2026

That includes open-source protocols for AI commerce like the X402 regime developed by a consortium that includes Coinbase, Cloudflare, and Stripe. — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 4 Aug. 2026

Potential investors in the London team include a consortium led by American technology billionaire Nikesh Arora, in addition to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, as previously reported by The Athletic. — Amelie Claydon, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2026

Fenway Sports Group, the club’s majority owner, is in discussions to offload as much as a 30% stake to a consortium led by by British-Indian businessman Amit Bhatia, valuing the franchise at $6 billion. — Justin Birnbaum, Sportico.com, 3 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Latin, fellowship, from consort-, consors — see consort entry 1

First Known Use

1829, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Legal Definition

consortium

noun

con·​sor·​tium kən-ˈsȯr-shəm; -shē-əm 

plural consortia -shə, -shē-ə  also consortiums

1

: an agreement, combination, or group (as of companies) formed to undertake an enterprise beyond the resources of any one member

2

[Medieval Latin, marital partnership, from Latin] : the right of one spouse to the company, affection, and assistance of and to sexual relations with the other

also : the right of a parent or child to the company, affection, and assistance of the other

suing for loss of consortium

compare society

Etymology

Latin, sharing, partnership, from consort-, consors sharer, partner