consortium

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

Updated on: 21 Apr 2018

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

John Werner, president of Mast Travel Network, a consortium of about 220 travel agencies, said his firm has been getting a lot of calls from travel agents with concerns about what to tell their customers about Mexico.

— raquel rutledge, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Travel agents and popular sites didn’t share the risks with those booking travel to Mexico resorts," 11 Apr. 2018
The corporation spent nearly $37 million in 2017 and has been operating with funds remaining from prior legislative appropriations when a consortium of BP, ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil led the Alaska LNG Project until the start of 2017.

— author: elwood brehmer, Anchorage Daily News, "Alaska gas line agency gets big-time help soliciting investors," 30 Mar. 2018
But not having the final say over their own business proved costly, Scott said, because new investors only wanted to deal with the founders — not a consortium of individuals uninvolved in the day-to-day.

— rob wile, miamiherald, "Miami couple founded start-up together. Then the competition arrived | Miami Herald," 25 Mar. 2018
The prize gave the duo some concert bookings and exposure to a consortium of Southern California music presenters.

— jesse hamlin, San Francisco Chronicle, "Duo’s fresh take on guitar, violin," 20 Mar. 2018
Neither of the nation’s presidents following Lula—Dilma Rousseff or Michel Temer—ratified the agreement and Brazil never made any payments to the consortium.

— herton escobar, Science | AAAS, "Ousted from ESO, Brazilian astronomy will be ‘strangled,’ says president of the Brazilian Astronomical Society," 16 Mar. 2018
Not long after the landscape architect died in 1903, Hurt and his partners sold the Druid Hills property to a consortium of Atlanta businessmen that included the founder of the Coca-Cola Co., Asa G. Candler.

— atlanta life, ajc, "The local legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted," 10 Mar. 2018
Photo: Mark Kauzlarich for The Wall Street Journal Terminal One Group, a consortium of four airlines, has teamed up with private equity firm Carlyle Group LP to extend Terminal 1.

— paul berger, WSJ, "The Fight to Overhaul JFK Airport," 8 Mar. 2018
Terminal 1 at Kennedy handles 21 foreign airlines but is operated by a consortium consisting of four of them: Air France, Japan Airlines, Korean Air and Lufthansa.

— patrick mcgeehan, BostonGlobe.com, "How Logan Airport bounced back from the snowstorm that crippled JFK," 28 Feb. 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

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First Known Use: 1829

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