consortium
Americannoun
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consortia,
plural
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consortiums
plural
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a combination of financial institutions, capitalists, etc., for carrying into effect some financial operation requiring large resources of capital.
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any association, partnership, or union.
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Law. the legal right of partners in a marriage to companionship and conjugal intercourse with each other.
In a wrongful death action the surviving spouse commonly seeks damages for loss of consortium.
noun
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an association of financiers, companies, etc, esp one formed for a particular purpose
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law the right of husband or wife to the company, assistance, and affection of the other
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of consortium
1820–30; < Latin: partnership, equivalent to consort- consort + -ium -ium
Explanation
Consortium is a fancy word for a group you form for an enterprise beyond what any one member could do alone. All the grocery stores in your neighborhood might form a consortium for the promotion of local strawberries. Consortium comes from the verb consort, which means "to accompany or associate." Consortium used to mean "fellowship, participation, society," but these days you're more likely to hear consortium for an association of different institutions like schools or companies than, say, a consortium of philosophical frog lovers. Still, consortiums usually preserve the ideals of fellowship, with every member institution chipping in to reach a common goal.
Vocabulary lists containing consortium
The Boys in the Boat
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"Simon's Saga," Vocabulary from Episode 25
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The Gene
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The international TopoLight consortium approached the challenge from a different direction.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 9, 2026
Earlier this year, Thrive Eternal, another Kushner-led firm, was part of a consortium that struck a deal to purchase the Los Angeles Lakers from finance mogul Mark Walter at a $12.5 billion valuation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
The remaining 45 percent was acquired by a consortium led by US investment firm HOF Capital in September, following Porsche's exit, and Mate Rimac serves as CEO.
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026
The consortium shared data as run of the mill as spambots as well as more serious threats.
From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2026
He was representing a consortium of interests that included Frank Phillips and Skelly—the old adversaries now allies.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
On Friday, Seoul said three tech consortia will provide the public services for the government’s “AI for All” initiative.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
But consortia funding these projects include publicly traded companies.
From Barron's ● Apr. 12, 2026
"Most large atlases like this require large consortia with dozens of laboratories but our method is far more efficient than other approaches."
From Science Daily ● Feb. 28, 2026
Financial institutions are now forming consortia for cross-border settlement.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 16, 2026
The federally funded research center employs about 830 staff, making it one of the largest consortia of scientists who study weather, climate and Earth systems using advanced models and supercomputers in the world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2025
Representatives of the three bidding consortiums each placed their bids for the 75 percent stake on offer in a transparent box.
From Barron's ● Dec. 23, 2025
The legacy media is facing all kinds of financial reversals, and I think it’s tied up in the ownership of a lot of papers by big corporate consortiums who have to worry about their shareholders.
From Slate ● Dec. 11, 2024
“Should there be need for more capital, he’s somebody who’s very adept at putting consortiums together.”
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 16, 2024
Those companies formed consortiums with PGZ and its subsidiaries, which signed the final deal with the Polish government, he said.
From Reuters ● May 29, 2023
The group faces competition to buy Chelsea from consortiums led by Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly and co-owner of the Boston Celtics Stephen Pagliuca.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2022
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
