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quorum

[ kwawr-uhm, kwohr- ]
/ ˈkwɔr əm, ˈkwoʊr- /
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noun
the number of members of a group or organization required to be present to transact business legally, usually a majority.
a particularly chosen group.
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Origin of quorum

First recorded in1400–50; from Latin quƍrum “of whom”; from its use in Latin legal formulas for commissioning justices of the peace
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use quorum in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for quorum

quorum
/ (ˈkwɔːrəm) /

noun
a minimum number of members in an assembly, society, board of directors, etc, required to be present before any valid business can be transactedthe quorum is forty; we don't have a quorum

Word Origin for quorum

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
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for quorum

quorum
[ (kwawr-uhm) ]

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.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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