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

Eastern, and the press conference with Chair Jerome Powell is at 2:30 p.m.

From MarketWatch

Nvidia spent much of this year’s conference touting its strength in inferencing, which is when AI models produce responses to queries.

From The Wall Street Journal

Federal Open Market Committee members’ economic projections and Chair Powell’s press conference after today’s meeting could change that, but don’t bet on it.

From The Wall Street Journal

In November, he attended the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum, a day-long conference at the Kennedy center designed to bring together investors on clean energy, AI, advanced manufacturing, finance and health.

From The Wall Street Journal

"It's the biggest nonsense," the Netherlands centre-back told a news conference.

From BBC

Related Words

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