conference
[kon-fer-uh ns, -fruh ns]
- a meeting for consultation or discussion: a conference between a student and his adviser.
- the act of conferring or consulting together; consultation, especially on an important or serious matter.
- Government. a meeting, as of various committees, to settle disagreements between the two branches of the legislature.
- an association of athletic teams; league: an intercollegiate conference.
- Ecclesiastical.
- an official assembly of clergy or of clergy and laity, customary in many Christian denominations.
- a group of churches whose representatives regularly meet in such an assembly.
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- to hold or participate in a conference or series of conferences.
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Origin of conference
Synonyms
See more synonyms for conference on Thesaurus.com1. parley, colloquium.
Synonym study
1. See convention.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for conference
Contemporary Examples
After some animated debate at the conference, Lelaie declared, with some frustration, “If you push on the stick, you will fly.”
Boehner was unanimously selected by the conference as its official nominee for speaker in the coming Congress.
Just this year we sponsored the Reaching Out MBA Conference and in that conference I introduced my fiancé to everybody.
Certainly some of those attending the conference had experience walking that line in the past.
At a conference in London the following week, a senior retired U.S. Air Force commander pooh-poohed counterstealth efforts.
Historical Examples
“What we want is to administer a tonic to the Conference in Milan,” he said airily.
The Secret AgentJoseph Conrad
Long was the conference, and sleepless the couch, of Mr. and Mrs. Morton.
Night and Morning, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
He had just left a conference of high officers, and he came upon a mission.
The Rock of ChickamaugaJoseph A. Altsheler
He managed the conference with his usual consummate dexterity.
Alice, or The Mysteries, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
She stopped in the roadway, as if to put an end to the conference.
Little DorritCharles Dickens
conference
- a meeting for consultation, exchange of information, or discussion, esp one with a formal agenda
- a formal meeting of two or more states, political groups, etc, esp to discuss differences or formulate common policy
- an assembly of the clergy or of clergy and laity of any of certain Protestant Christian Churches acting as representatives of their denominationthe Methodist conference
- sport a league or division of clubs or teams
- rare an act of bestowal
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Word Origin
C16: from Medieval Latin conferentia, from Latin conferre to bring together; see confer
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
Word Origin and History for conference
n.
1550s, "act of conferring," from Middle French conférence (15c.), from Medieval Latin conferentia, from Latin conferens, present participle of conferre (see confer). Meaning "formal meeting for consultation" is from 1580s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper