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

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

Larry Ellison could sell some of his Oracle stock, worth more than $350 billion, and his son’s consortium is in talks with Apollo to take over some of Warner’s staggering debt load, according to another person familiar with the matter. —Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 20 Oct. 2025

And in 2025, Jef Boeke and his international consortium of yeast scientists completed the ten-megabase yeast genome, a giant milestone on the path to writing larger, more complex genomes like our own. —Big Think, 20 Oct. 2025

On Wednesday, a consortium of investors including BlackRock acquired a data center operator for $40 billion . —Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2025

The company gathered some partners into a consortium, including Chinese operators heavily involved in their country’s Belt and Road infrastructure scheme. —Samanth Subramanian, The Dial, 14 Oct. 2025

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