monopoly

noun

mo·​nop·​o·​ly mə-ˈnä-p(ə-)lē 

plural monopolies

1

: exclusive ownership through legal privilege, command of supply, or concerted action

2

: exclusive possession or control

no country has a monopoly on morality or truth

—Helen M. Lynd

3

: a commodity controlled by one party

had a monopoly on flint from their quarries

—Barbara A. Leitch

4

: one that has a monopoly

The government passed laws intended to break up monopolies.

Did you know?

You're probably familiar with the word monopoly, but you may not recognize its conceptual and linguistic relative, the much rarer oligopsony. Both monopoly and oligopsony are ultimately from Greek, although monopoly passed through Latin before being adopted into English. Monopoly comes from the Greek prefix mono-, which means "one," and pōlein, "to sell." Oligopsony derives from the combining form olig-, meaning "few," and the Greek noun opsōnia—"the purchase of victuals"—which is ultimately from the combination of opson, "food," and ōneisthai, "to buy." It makes sense, then, that oligopsony refers to a buyer's market in which the seller is subjected to the potential demands of a limited pool of buyers. Another related word is monopsony, used for a more extreme oligopsony in which there is only a single buyer.

Examples of monopoly in a Sentence

The government passed laws intended to break up monopolies.

Recent Examples on the Web

Ending exclusive deals In August, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta found that Google protected its search monopoly through exclusive agreements with Samsung Electronics 005930.KS and others to have its search engine installed as the default on new devices. —Jody Godoy, USA Today, 23 Apr. 2025

Bob Menendez protected Hana’s halal meat certification monopoly and intervened in separate criminal cases involving the other two men. —Ella Lee, The Hill, 21 Apr. 2025

Although Google did have one minor victory; the judge ruled that antitrust enforcers failed to show the company also had a monopoly in ad networks. —Kevin Williams, Quartz, 17 Apr. 2025

But in a partial win for Google, antitrust enforcers failed to prove that the company held a monopoly in advertiser ad networks, the judge found. —Queenie Wong, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin monopolium, from Greek monopōlion, from mon- + pōlein to sell

First Known Use

1534, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing monopoly

• anti-monopoly

Rhymes for monopoly

• antimonopoly
• oligopoly
• trichinopoly

Kids Definition

monopoly

noun

mo·​nop·​o·​ly mə-ˈnäp-(ə-)lē 

plural monopolies

1

a

: complete control over the entire supply of goods or a service in a certain market

b

: complete possession

2

: a commercial product or service controlled by one person or company

3

: a company that has a monopoly

Legal Definition

monopoly

noun

mo·​nop·​o·​ly mə-ˈnä-pə-lē 

plural monopolies

1

: exclusive control of a particular market that is marked by the power to control prices and exclude competition and that especially is developed willfully rather than as the result of superior products or skill see also antitrust, Sherman Antitrust Act

2

: one that has a monopoly