consortium

noun

con·​sor·​tium kən-ˈsȯr-sh(ē-)əm 

-ˈsȯr-tē-əm

plural consortia kən-ˈsȯr-sh(ē-)ə 

-ˈsȯr-tē-ə

also consortiums

1

: an agreement, combination, or group (as of companies) formed to undertake an enterprise beyond the resources of any one member

A consortium of researchers decoded the honeybee genome.

2

: association, society

3

: the legal right of one spouse to the company, affection, and assistance of and to sexual relations with the other

Synonyms

• association
• board
• brotherhood
• chamber
• club
• college
• congress
• council
• fellowship
• fraternity
• guild
• gild
• institute
• institution
• league
• order
• organization
• society
• sodality

Examples of consortium in a Sentence

A Japanese consortium invested millions in the technology.

a consortium for the prevention of animal cruelty

Recent Examples on the Web

McCourt’s Project Liberty—the group leading The People’s Bid For TikTok—has built a consortium to purchase TikTok that includes O’Leary and Guggenheim Securities. —Antonio Pequeño Iv, Forbes, 18 Jan. 2025

The majority of the officials who live in the West went to the Big 12 consortium. —Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Jan. 2025

In 2020, then President Donald Trump tried to force a ban or sale as well but let that effort fizzle, although Microsoft had emerged as a bidder as well as an investor consortium including Oracle. —Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 15 Jan. 2025

Foley’s consortium bought a stake in Hibernian in March and, as The Athletic reported in October, has held talks about taking over Moreirense in Portugal. —The Athletic Uk Staff, The Athletic, 14 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin, fellowship, from consort-, consors — see consort entry 1

First Known Use

1829, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Legal Definition

consortium

noun

con·​sor·​tium kən-ˈsȯr-shəm; -shē-əm 

plural consortia -shə, -shē-ə  also consortiums

1

: an agreement, combination, or group (as of companies) formed to undertake an enterprise beyond the resources of any one member

2

[Medieval Latin, marital partnership, from Latin] : the right of one spouse to the company, affection, and assistance of and to sexual relations with the other

also : the right of a parent or child to the company, affection, and assistance of the other

suing for loss of consortium

compare society

Etymology

Latin, sharing, partnership, from consort-, consors sharer, partner