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colloquium

noun
col·​lo·​qui·​um | \ kə-ˈlō-kwē-əm \
plural colloquiums or colloquia\ kə-​ˈlō-​kwē-​ə \

Definition of colloquium

: a usually academic meeting at which specialists deliver addresses on a topic or on related topics and then answer questions relating to them … a nine-session scholar-led colloquium to introduce teachers to literary texts by and about minorities …— Bruce Fraser
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Did You Know?

A colloquy is a conversation, and especially an important, high-level discussion. Colloquy and colloquium once meant the same thing, though today colloquium always refers to a conference. Because of its old "conversation" meaning, however, a colloquium is a type of conference with important question-and-answer periods.

Examples of colloquium in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

 He was permitted to return to CWRU in 2009 for a colloquium. — Karen Farkas, cleveland.com, "Physicist Lawrence Krauss had access restricted at Case Western Reserve University in 2009 after sexual harassment accusation, BuzzFeed reports," 26 Feb. 2018 PhD candidate Christine Nittrouer and a team did a survey of 50 top U.S. universities and analyzed the colloquium speakers from the biology, bioengineering, political science, history, psychology, and sociology departments. — Ellen Mcgirt, Fortune, "raceAhead: Ta-Nehisi Coates Quits Twitter," 19 Dec. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'colloquium.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of colloquium

1844, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for colloquium

Latin, colloquy

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The first known use of colloquium was in 1844

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More Definitions for colloquium

colloquium

noun
col·​lo·​qui·​um | \ kə-ˈlō-kwē-əm \

Legal Definition of colloquium

: the part of a complaint for defamation in which the plaintiff avers that the defamatory remarks related to him or her

History and Etymology for colloquium

Latin, talk, discussion, from colloqui to converse

More from Merriam-Webster on colloquium

Nglish: Translation of colloquium for Spanish Speakers

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