conference

[ kon-fer-uhns, -fruhns ]

noun

1. a meeting for consultation or discussion:

   a conference between a student and his adviser.

   Synonyms: colloquium, parley

2. the act of conferring or consulting together; consultation, especially on an important or serious matter.
3. Government. a meeting, as of various committees, to settle disagreements between the two branches of the legislature.
4. an association of athletic teams; league:

   an intercollegiate conference.

5. Ecclesiastical.
   1. an official assembly of clergy or of clergy and laity, customary in many Christian denominations.
   2. a group of churches whose representatives regularly meet in such an assembly.

verb (used without object)

, con·fer·enced, con·fer·enc·ing.

1. to hold or participate in a conference or series of conferences.

conference

/ ˈkɒnfərəns; -frəns; ˌkɒnfəˈrɛnʃəl /

noun

1. a meeting for consultation, exchange of information, or discussion, esp one with a formal agenda
2. a formal meeting of two or more states, political groups, etc, esp to discuss differences or formulate common policy
3. an assembly of the clergy or of clergy and laity of any of certain Protestant Christian Churches acting as representatives of their denomination

   the Methodist conference

4. sport a league or division of clubs or teams
5. rare.
   an act of bestowal

Derived Forms

• conferential, adjective

Other Words From

• con·fer·en·tial [kon-f, uh, -, ren, -sh, uh, l], adjective
• pre·confer·ence noun
• sub·confer·ence noun
• subcon·fer·ential adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of conference¹

From the Medieval Latin word conferentia, dating back to 1530–40. See confer, -ence

Word History and Origins

Origin of conference¹

C16: from Medieval Latin conferentia, from Latin conferre to bring together; see confer

Synonym Study

See convention.

Example Sentences

“They wake up in the morning, they wanna compete. And the games count for the regular season. We all recognize how difficult the Western Conference is. And every game is gonna matter.”

From Los Angeles Times

The conference switch is expected to bring in tens of millions of dollars in additional revenue annually to a debt-ridden athletic department while also preventing the Bruins from having to consider eliminating any Olympic sports.

From Los Angeles Times

Gabbard, like many other "America First" proponents, exempts Israel from her quasi-isolationist critiques, once describing pro-Palestine protesters as puppets of a "radical Islamist organization" and serving as a keynote speaker at a conference hosted by Christians United for Israel.

From Salon

Taylor had become a regular at Tanton’s salons, which were growing into an annual conference with dozens of prominent anti-immigration activists meeting at a Marriott hotel outside of Washington, D.C.

From Salon

In February 2010, as Republicans gathered for the prestigious annual Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C., the Center for Immigration Studies’ longtime executive director, Mark Krikorian, sat on a panel about immigration reform in front of a packed audience, along with Robert Rector from the Heritage Foundation and Steve King, the lightning-rod congressman from Iowa.

From Salon

Related Words

• consultation
• discussion
• forum
• interview
• meeting
• seminar
• symposium
• talk