monopsony

noun

mo·​nop·​so·​ny mə-ˈnäp-sə-nē 

plural monopsonies

: an oligopsony limited to one buyer

monopsonistic

mə-ˌnäp-sə-ˈni-stik 

adjective

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 monopsony in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Le, along with a separate case, Johnson, argues that UFC violated antitrust law by allegedly functioning as a monopsony in the MMA industry (a monopsony is like a monopoly but involves a buyer of services, here UFC buying MMA fighters’ services), restraining UFC fighter pay. —Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 3 Sep. 2019

Internationally, the defense market is not a monopsony. —Dominic Pino, National Review, 14 Dec. 2023

In October, a federal judge blocked Paramount Global’s attempt to sell publisher Simon & Schuster to the owner of Penguin Random House based on the Justice Department’s monopsony theory that the merger would harm authors of top-selling books. —Katie Kilkenny, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Aug. 2023

In contrast, courts and regulators have largely neglected monopsony, where there exists one or a small handful of purchasers of goods and services, including labor services. —Eric A. Posner, Foreign Affairs, 24 Aug. 2021

Word History

Etymology

mon- + -opsony (as in oligopsony)

First Known Use

1933, in the meaning defined above