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

Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019, and was later bought by a consortium including Authentic Brands Group and landlords Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners. —Gabrielle Fonrouge, CNBC, 19 Feb. 2025

Musk and a consortium of investors made a $97.4 billion offer for OpenAI last week. —Ars Technica, 18 Feb. 2025

The consortia that oversee shipping include companies from numerous other countries. —Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times, 11 Feb. 2025

His xAI is backing the deal with a consortium including Valor Equity Partners, Baron Capital, Atreides Management, Vy Capital, 8VC, a venture firm led by Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale and Emanuel. —Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 10 Feb. 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