consortium

noun con·sor·tium \ kən-ˈsȯr-sh(ē-)əm , -ˈsȯr-tē-əm \

|Updated on: 10 Aug 2018

Examples: consortium in a Sentence

Definition of consortium

plural consortia play \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

See consortium defined for English-language learners

Examples of consortium in a Sentence

A Japanese consortium invested millions in the technology.
a consortium for the prevention of animal cruelty

Recent Examples of consortium from the Web

The consortium of funds is led by CVC Fund VII and includes PSP Investments and StepStone.

— aisha al-muslim, WSJ, "CVC Fund to Buy Controlling Stake in Italian Pharma Firm Recordati," 29 June 2018
Since 2015, the consortium has had to choose the hues available for the complexions of smileys.

— virginia heffernan, WIRED, "The Delicate Art of Creating New Emoji," 28 June 2018
In all, the consortium looked at 265,218 cases of different brain disorders and 784,643 healthy volunteers who acted as controls.

— The Economist, "A big collaboration is trying to understand diseases of the psyche," 28 June 2018
The same consortium is also at work deploying thousands of sensing devices in San Diego.

— glenn fleishman, Fortune, "Inside Portland's Plan to Battle Traffic Deaths by Hanging 'Smartphones' on Street Lights," 18 June 2018
Tuesday’s results marked the consortium’s most significant loss in the national campaign for prosecutor races.

— abbie vansickle, latimes.com, "Big spending by George Soros and liberal groups fails to sway D.A. races in California," 7 June 2018
Many of the same partners in the consortium are now expanding I-35W from downtown Fort Worth to Heritage Trace Parkway in far north Fort Worth — and that project is on track to be completed by September.

— gordon dickson, star-telegram, "Fort Worth's highways are finally fixed, so these businesses are moving in," 6 June 2018
That deadline has passed, and the consortium has granted an extension, but hard feelings remain over the way the offer was proposed.

— tariq panja, New York Times, "In Fine Print of $25 Billion Offer, a Bid for a Stake in FIFA’s Business," 24 May 2018
Donald, who leads the international consortium going ahead with the takeover, previously owned non-league side Eastleigh and a 10% stake in Oxford United.

— SI.com, "Stewart Donald Completes Sunderland Takeover and Hints at Potential for Coleman Return," 21 May 2018

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

Origin and Etymology of consortium

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1829

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

consortium Synonyms

Synonyms

association, board, brotherhood, chamber, club, college, congress, council, fellowship, fraternity, guild (also gild), institute, institution, league, order, organization, society, sodality;

alliance, bloc, camp, coalition, partnership;

body, cadre, group;

circle, clan, clique, coterie, junta, lot, set;

crew, outfit, party, squad, team;

branch, chapter, local;

faithful, fold, membership;

sisterhood, sorority;

cabal, confederacy, conspiracy;

band, gang, ring;

cartel, combine, syndicate;

Other Business Terms

amortize, caveat emptor, clearinghouse, divest, due diligence, emolument, green-collar, marque, overhead, perquisite

CONSORTIUM Defined for English Language Learners

consortium

noun

Definition of consortium for English Language Learners

: a group of people, companies, etc., that agree to work together

Law Dictionary

consortium

noun con·sor·tium \ kən-ˈsȯr-shəm; -shē-əm \

legal Definition of consortium

plural consortia play \-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

[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