symposium

American  

[sim-poh-zee-uhm] / sɪmˈpoʊ zi əm /

noun

plural

symposiums, symposia

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.

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

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

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

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symposium British  

/ sɪmˈpəʊzɪəm /

noun

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

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

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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

Explanation

A symposium is a public meeting about a topic in which people give presentations. If your knitting club holds a symposium, various knitters will give presentations about anything having to do with knitting. A symposium can be a one-time conference or a regular meeting, but it will probably include some amount of discussion or public speeches on a particular subject. Many people who attend symposiums will be part of the audience for many of the presentations, but during the course of the event, give their own presentation or be part of a panel discussion.

Example Sentences

In the breakfast line at the Fed’s annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium, I asked if he could really measure the weight of GDP.

From Barron's • Feb. 27, 2026

Representatives of both products were willing to exhibit their products at the Global Symposium in Tucson, but declined to publicly discuss the machines.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 2025

Jones used his status to try to stem the violence in the hip-hop world, convening the Quincy Jones Hip-Hop Symposium in 1995, where he addressed a room full of the nation's rap stars.

From BBC • Nov. 4, 2024

Academic conferences are usually staid affairs, but the 1973 International Symposium on Gender Identity, held in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, was an exception.

From New York Times • May 8, 2024

So on October 11, 1996, at Morehouse School of Medicine, he organized the first annual HeLa Cancer Control Symposium.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

Related Words

• convention
• discussion
• forum
• meeting
• panel discussion
• round table
• seminar