consortium

noun

con·​sor·​tium kən-ˈsȯr-sh(ē-)əm 

-ˈsȯr-tē-əm

plural consortia kən-ˈsȯr-sh(ē-)ə 

-ˈsȯr-tē-ə

also consortiums

1

: an agreement, combination, or group (as of companies) formed to undertake an enterprise beyond the resources of any one member

A consortium of researchers decoded the honeybee genome.

2

: association, society

3

: the legal right of one spouse to the company, affection, and assistance of and to sexual relations with the other

Synonyms

• association
• board
• brotherhood
• chamber
• club
• college
• congress
• council
• fellowship
• fraternity
• guild
• gild
• institute
• institution
• league
• order
• organization
• society
• sodality

Examples of consortium in a Sentence

A Japanese consortium invested millions in the technology.

a consortium for the prevention of animal cruelty

Recent Examples on the Web

In a regulatory filing early Tuesday, the company announced plans to borrow $10 billion from a consortium of banks. —Chris Isidore, CNN, 15 Oct. 2024

The Allen Institute, UW Medicine, and Kaiser Permanente Institute together form the Seattle Alzheimer’s Disease Brain Cell Atlas (SEA-AD) consortium, a community resource that makes its open-source data available to students, researchers, and clinicians. —New Atlas, 15 Oct. 2024

The hotel, which will be built in partnership with a consortium of Chilean investors, has an optimistic opening date of the end of 2025. —Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 4 Oct. 2024

Four months later, Authentic stepped in to lead a consortium including Simon and Brookfield Properties to acquire Aéropostale for $243.3 million. —Jean E. Palmieri, WWD, 4 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin, fellowship, from consort-, consors — see consort entry 1

First Known Use

1829, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Legal Definition

consortium

noun

con·​sor·​tium kən-ˈsȯr-shəm; -shē-əm 

plural consortia -shə, -shē-ə  also consortiums

1

: an agreement, combination, or group (as of companies) formed to undertake an enterprise beyond the resources of any one member

2

[Medieval Latin, marital partnership, from Latin] : the right of one spouse to the company, affection, and assistance of and to sexual relations with the other

also : the right of a parent or child to the company, affection, and assistance of the other

suing for loss of consortium

compare society

Etymology

Latin, sharing, partnership, from consort-, consors sharer, partner