quorum

[kwawr-uhm, kwohr-]

noun

1. the number of members of a group or organization required to be present to transact business legally, usually a majority.

2. a particularly chosen group.

quorum

/ ˈkwɔːrəm /

noun

1. a minimum number of members in an assembly, society, board of directors, etc, required to be present before any valid business can be transacted

   the quorum is forty

   we don't have a quorum

quorum

1. The minimum number of members of a committee or legislative body who must be present before business can officially or legally be conducted. In the United States Congress, for example, either house must have a majority (218 in the House of Representatives, 51 in the Senate) to have a quorum.

Word History and Origins

Origin of quorum¹

First recorded in 1400–50; from Latin quōrum “of whom”; from its use in Latin legal formulas for commissioning justices of the peace

Word History and Origins

Origin of quorum¹

C15: from Latin, literally: of whom, occurring in Latin commissions in the formula quorum vos…duos (etc) volumus of whom we wish that you be…two

Example Sentences

An August referendum on restarting the reactor, held just three months after it closed, failed to attract a quorum, though the yes votes outweighed the noes.

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Frey, he said, had asked his delegates to leave in order to deny quorum.

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A lack of quorum has led to the cancellation of roughly a third of its meetings this year.

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“Tools, whether legal or political, for eliminating quorum breaks may exist,” they wrote.

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Her dismissal has paralyzed the labor board by leaving it without a quorum.

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