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

• organization
• institute
• association
• institution
• society
• chamber
• fraternity
• council
• group
• board

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

Building an authentication mechanism for AI agents requires the attention of regulators, tech giants and industry consortia because AI agents are not passive responders, like traditional chatbots. —Khurram Akhtar, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2025

The consortium project collects publicly available information from political crowds in the U.S. at marches, protests, riots and more. —Kinsey Crowley, USA Today, 18 Aug. 2025

Now all eyes are looking west to Manatee County, which doubled its impact fees in June and was sued last month by a consortium of local homebuilders led by the head of the Suncoast Builders’ Association. —Laura Kinsler, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 Aug. 2025

The latter portion of that acquisition involved transferring 80 percent of the operations at the other 41 ports to the consortium. —Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 28 July 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