symposium
Americannoun
plural
symposiums, symposia-
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.
-
a collection of opinions expressed or articles contributed by several persons on a given subject or topic.
-
an account of a discussion meeting or of the conversation at it.
-
(in ancient Greece and Rome) a convivial meeting, usually following a dinner, for drinking and intellectual conversation.
-
(initial capital letter, italics) a philosophical dialogue (4th century b.c.) by Plato, dealing with ideal love and the vision of absolute beauty.
noun
-
a conference or meeting for the discussion of some subject, esp an academic topic or social problem
-
a collection of scholarly contributions, usually published together, on a given subject
-
(in classical Greece) a drinking party with intellectual conversation, music, etc
Etymology
Origin of symposium
1580–90; < Latin < Greek sympósion drinking party, equivalent to sym- sym- + po- (variant stem of pī́nein to drink) + -sion noun suffix
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.
I disagreed with the premise of the symposium and declined.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026
Yin is also organizing a symposium on the Ithaca campus scheduled for March 3-5, 2026.
From Science Daily • Dec. 24, 2025
The event, which has been held in parliament in the past and is billed by the FPOe as a "symposium", drew criticism from Austria's Jewish community and major political parties.
From Barron's • Nov. 11, 2025
Digging further, Lindell’s brief to the circuit court claims that I didn’t do a full or correct analysis of the data that he presented at his symposium.
From Slate • Sep. 15, 2025
A symposium of many of the most important figures in the field was convened in London under the auspices of the Royal Society in 1964, and suddenly, it seemed, everyone was a convert.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
Definitions 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.
