colloquy
Americannoun
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colloquies
plural
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a conversational exchange; dialogue.
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a conference.
noun
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a formal conversation or conference
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a literary work in dialogue form
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an informal conference on religious or theological matters
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of colloquy
1555–65; < Latin colloquium colloquium
Explanation
A colloquy is a formal talk, the opposite of a chat, such as the colloquy you have with your boss about a serious matter — far different from how you'll talk to your friends about it afterward. To correctly pronounce colloquy, accent the first syllable: "KOLL uh kwee." The word comes from the Latin prefix com-, meaning "together," and loquium, meaning "speaking." That adds up to "speaking together." You probably recognize loqui, meaning "to speak," in words like locution and colloquial, which also involve speaking.
Vocabulary lists containing colloquy
"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 8–13
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"Simon's Saga," Vocabulary from Episode 6
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Walden
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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:
And then there’s this funny colloquy with Sen. Chuck Grassley, who’s trying to trap him into articulating his views on “judicial activism,” and his response was kind of beautiful.
From Slate ● May 9, 2025
And in the second act, he has a crucial existential colloquy with Marianne, Rachel Bay Jones’ wealthy airhead, who reveals a surprising amount of depth in a philosophical back and forth with her uncertain confessor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2023
Some of his dialogue scenes — including a riveting colloquy between the questing Marianne and the questioning bishop — have the shape, rhythm and sorrowful wit of a Sondheim song.
From New York Times ● Oct. 22, 2023
“That’s the remedy you have,” Justice Rolando T. Acosta said in a colloquy with Futerfas.
From Washington Post ● May 11, 2022
Now then, their colloquy at an end, they went their ways—Athena toward illustrious Lakedaimon far over sea, to join Odysseus’ son.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
You hear it deployed in corporate colloquies, political speeches and school prospectuses as if it were a magic wand.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 21, 2021
Otherwise, these colloquies offered as much insight as your average sideline interview, which is to say little.
From Slate ● Feb. 10, 2020
Despite a sense of the historical importance – and members’ efforts to dramatize the hearing with outbursts and impassioned colloquies – the mood was subdued.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 12, 2019
“Mike Wallace Is Here” opens with one of its more provocative colloquies, an interchange between the subject and controversial host Bill O’Reilly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2019
I find on the program of that year a series of colloquies named "The Socratic Academy," conducted by Dr. H. H. Moore.
From The Story of Chautauqua by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
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.
