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

According to Naval News, Hanwha Ocean faces competition from France, Spain and a joint Italian-German consortium in the bid to build submarines for the Philippine navy. —Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025

Amazon has invested in several subsea cable projects in the past, including Jako, Bifrost and Havfrue as part of a consortium, but Fastnet is the first time that the tech company undertakes one of these projects alone. —Magdalena Petrova, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2025

Once the project has been completed, the project partners intend to further scale the technology and take the path to the next technology maturity levels with the help of an even larger consortium. —Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 3 Nov. 2025

The Jamaican government announced that a consortium of international organizations, including charities like Mercy Corps and Haiti Air Ambulance, with expertise in disaster relief and recovery, have arrived in the country and are working with the Jamaica Defense Force. —Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 31 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