conference

noun

con·​fer·​ence ˈkän-f(ə-)rən(t)s 

-fərn(t)s,

 for sense 2 usually  kən-ˈfər-ən(t)s

1

a

: a meeting of two or more persons for discussing matters of common concern

The president is in conference with his advisers.

b

: a usually formal interchange of views : consultation

a conference on climate change

c

: a meeting of members of the two branches of a legislature to adjust differences

d

: caucus

2

or less commonly conferrence

kən-ˈfər-ən(t)s 

: bestowal, conferment

the conference of academic degrees

3

a

: a representative assembly or administrative organization of a religious denomination

b

: a territorial division of a religious denomination

4

: an association of athletic teams

a football conference

conferential

ˌkän-fə-ˈren(t)-shəl 

adjective

Synonyms

• assemblage
• assembly
• congregation
• convocation
• gathering
• ingathering
• meeting
• muster

Examples of conference in a Sentence

The organization held its annual conference in New York this year.

national conferences on women's health

a conference of foreign ministers

Our boss called a conference to discuss the new changes.

He spent an hour in conference with the president.

the champions of the American Football Conference

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Recent Examples on the Web

On November 9th, the company held a conference to help sellers prepare and plan for the upcoming Black Friday and Christmas. —Tracy Wen Liu, WIRED, 21 Nov. 2023

Altman, left, appears onstage with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at OpenAI’s first developer conference, on Nov. 6 in San Francisco. —Isabelle Bousquette, WSJ, 20 Nov. 2023

Madison Mellinger, then a senior at Princeton University, organized a two-day virtual conference attended by 80 to 90 students last February to help students organize rural clubs. —Matt Krupnick, Los Angeles Times, 20 Nov. 2023

In October, a pledging conference to replenish the U.N.’s Green Climate Fund raised only $9.3 billion, even less than the $10 billion that countries had promised last time. —E&e News, Scientific American, 20 Nov. 2023

Bahrain, for its part, issued a milestone condemnation of Hamas at a security conference in Manama, the Gulf Arab state’s capital city. —Joel Gehrke, Washington Examiner, 20 Nov. 2023

Toner has previously spoken at conferences for a philanthropic movement closely tied to AI safety. —Pranshu Verma, Washington Post, 19 Nov. 2023

At its first developer conference last week, Altman was the main speaker showcasing a vision for a future of AI agents that could help people with a variety of tasks. —Matt O'Brien, Fortune, 18 Nov. 2023

Altman also spoke at Thursday’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference. —Jay Peters, The Verge, 17 Nov. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French and Medieval Latin; Middle French conference, borrowed from Medieval Latin conferentia "contribution, discussion," noun derivative from conferent-, conferens, present participle of conferre "to bring or take, convey, bring together" — more at confer

First Known Use

1527, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing conference

• conference call
• news conference
• press conference

• conference call
• news conference
• press conference

Kids Definition

conference

noun

con·​fer·​ence ˈkän-f(ə-)rən(t)s 

-fərn(t)s

1

: a meeting for discussion or exchange of opinions

also : the discussion itself

2

: a meeting of members of the two branches of a legislature to settle differences

3

: an association of athletic teams

a football conference

Legal Definition

conference

noun

con·​fer·​ence ˈkän-frəns, -fə-rəns 

1

: a meeting for consultation, deliberation, discussion, or interchange of opinions

a conference on environmental law

see also judicial conference, pretrial conference

2

: a meeting of members of the two branches of a legislature especially to adjust differences in the provisions of a bill passed in different forms by the two branches

also : conference committee

3

: caucus