conference

American  

[kon-fer-uhns, -fruhns] / ˈkɒn fər əns, -frəns /

noun

1. a meeting for consultation or discussion.

   a conference between a student and his adviser.

   Synonyms:

   colloquium, parley

2. the act of conferring or consulting together; consultation, especially on an important or serious matter.

3. Government. a meeting, as of various committees, to settle disagreements between the two branches of the legislature.

4. an association of athletic teams; league.

   an intercollegiate conference.

5. Ecclesiastical.

   1. an official assembly of clergy or of clergy and laity, customary in many Christian denominations.

   2. a group of churches whose representatives regularly meet in such an assembly.

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verb (used without object)

conferenced, conferencing

1. to hold or participate in a conference or series of conferences.

conference British  

/ ˈkɒnfərəns, -frəns, ˌkɒnfəˈrɛnʃəl /

noun

1. a meeting for consultation, exchange of information, or discussion, esp one with a formal agenda

2. a formal meeting of two or more states, political groups, etc, esp to discuss differences or formulate common policy

3. an assembly of the clergy or of clergy and laity of any of certain Protestant Christian Churches acting as representatives of their denomination

   the Methodist conference

4. sport a league or division of clubs or teams

5. rare an act of bestowal

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Related Words

See convention.

Other Word Forms

• conferential adjective
• preconference noun
• subconference noun
• subconferential adjective

Etymology

Origin of conference

From the Medieval Latin word conferentia, dating back to 1530–40. See confer, -ence

Example Sentences

Later that month, Jessica returned to the police department, along with Eddings and her students, for a celebratory press conference that rocketed the news of Perkins’ arrest across the globe.

From Slate • Apr. 6, 2026

I figured Auriemma would clean up the mess in his postgame press conference, but instead he calmly leaned in to it, offering the pregame handshake delay as his explanation-slash-justification.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026

The initiative was formally introduced at a press conference at the Archaeological Museum of Frankfurt.

From Science Daily • Apr. 5, 2026

John Honeycutt, the chair of the Artemis II Mission Management Team, summed up the public interest in the space toilet during a news conference on Saturday evening.

From BBC • Apr. 5, 2026

After his reelection, he attempted to arrange a peace conference, but the opposing sides could not agree on a basis for discussion, and the conference never took place.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

Related Words

• consultation
• discussion
• forum
• interview
• meeting
• seminar
• symposium
• talk