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

In the late 1960s, the Swiss Centre Électronique Horloger consortium developed the Beta 21 quartz movement, which went into production in 1970, though Japan's Seiko beat them to market with its Quartz Astron 35SQ in December 1969. —David Szondy march 28, New Atlas, 28 Mar. 2026

The sci-fi epic stars Gosling as an ostracized biologist now teaching high school who is tapped by the head of an international consortium (Sandra Hüller) to help stop the sun from dimming and ushering in another ice age. —Pamela McClintock, HollywoodReporter, 28 Mar. 2026

In order to prevent FlyBase from becoming frozen in time, the consortium is now asking the wider fly research community to chip in annual contributions to keep the Cambridge group curating, an annual cost of around $500,000, project leader Norbert Perrimon told STAT in an email. —Megan Molteni, STAT, 27 Mar. 2026

Ares Management and Michael Hamp’s Middle West Partners were also part of the winning consortium. —Luisa Beltran, Sportico.com, 27 Mar. 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