symposium

[ sim-poh-zee-uhm ]
See synonyms for: symposiumsymposia on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural sym·po·si·ums, sym·po·si·a [sim-poh-zee-uh]. /sɪmˈpoʊ zi ə/.
  1. a meeting or conference for the discussion of some subject, especially a meeting at which several speakers talk on or discuss a topic before an audience.

  2. a collection of opinions expressed or articles contributed by several persons on a given subject or topic.

  1. an account of a discussion meeting or of the conversation at it.

  2. (in ancient Greece and Rome) a convivial meeting, usually following a dinner, for drinking and intellectual conversation.

  3. (initial capital letter, italics) a philosophical dialogue (4th century b.c.) by Plato, dealing with ideal love and the vision of absolute beauty.

Origin of symposium

1
1580–90; <Latin <Greek sympósion drinking party, equivalent to sym-sym- + po- (variant stem of pī́nein to drink) + -sion noun suffix

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British Dictionary definitions for symposium

symposium

/ (sɪmˈpəʊzɪəm) /


nounplural -siums or -sia (-zɪə)
  1. a conference or meeting for the discussion of some subject, esp an academic topic or social problem

  2. a collection of scholarly contributions, usually published together, on a given subject

  1. (in classical Greece) a drinking party with intellectual conversation, music, etc

Origin of symposium

1
C16: via Latin from Greek sumposion, from sumpinein to drink together, from sum- syn- + pinein to drink

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012