consortium
Americannoun
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consortia,
plural
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consortiums
plural
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a combination of financial institutions, capitalists, etc., for carrying into effect some financial operation requiring large resources of capital.
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any association, partnership, or union.
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Law. the legal right of partners in a marriage to companionship and conjugal intercourse with each other.
In a wrongful death action the surviving spouse commonly seeks damages for loss of consortium.
noun
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an association of financiers, companies, etc, esp one formed for a particular purpose
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law the right of husband or wife to the company, assistance, and affection of the other
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of consortium
1820–30; < Latin: partnership, equivalent to consort- consort + -ium -ium
Explanation
Consortium is a fancy word for a group you form for an enterprise beyond what any one member could do alone. All the grocery stores in your neighborhood might form a consortium for the promotion of local strawberries. Consortium comes from the verb consort, which means "to accompany or associate." Consortium used to mean "fellowship, participation, society," but these days you're more likely to hear consortium for an association of different institutions like schools or companies than, say, a consortium of philosophical frog lovers. Still, consortiums usually preserve the ideals of fellowship, with every member institution chipping in to reach a common goal.
Vocabulary lists containing consortium
The Boys in the Boat
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"Simon's Saga," Vocabulary from Episode 25
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The Gene
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The consortium was tasked with designing, building and financing the project, and operating and maintaining the people mover for 25 years after its completion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
There is also an option for the consortium to buy a controlling stake in Liverpool in the next 12 months, though that does not involve a formal commitment.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Liverpool's owners have agreed to sell around a third of the club to a consortium including billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
According to reports, the stake acquired by the consortium is around one-third of the club.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
Mr. Sharpe, we divined, represented a consortium of investors.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
But consortia funding these projects include publicly traded companies.
From Barron's ● Apr. 12, 2026
"Most large atlases like this require large consortia with dozens of laboratories but our method is far more efficient than other approaches."
From Science Daily ● Feb. 28, 2026
Yet U.S. officials are again mired in discussions about nuclear enrichment, stockpiled uranium and regional consortia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026
Financial institutions are now forming consortia for cross-border settlement.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 16, 2026
The federally funded research center employs about 830 staff, making it one of the largest consortia of scientists who study weather, climate and Earth systems using advanced models and supercomputers in the world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2025
As the model continues to grow across the game globally, it remains to be seen just how consortiums will adapt to manage all of their assets, and whether fans will continue to accept it.
From Barron's ● Jan. 6, 2026
Under PFI deals, private consortiums build facilities such as schools, hospitals and roads, in return for regular payments over as many as 30 years.
From BBC ● Nov. 21, 2025
The legacy media is facing all kinds of financial reversals, and I think it’s tied up in the ownership of a lot of papers by big corporate consortiums who have to worry about their shareholders.
From Slate ● Dec. 11, 2024
Those companies formed consortiums with PGZ and its subsidiaries, which signed the final deal with the Polish government, he said.
From Reuters ● May 29, 2023
Abramovich will sell the club after 19 years as owner, with four consortiums locked in a bidding battle.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 2, 2022
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
