consortium
consortium Lexical Profile
consortium Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An association or formal partnership of several businesses, banks, universities, or organizations formed to pool resources for a common project or shared objective.
"A global consortium of research universities collaborated to fund and build the new astronomical observatory."
In law, the legal right of one spouse to the company, affection, fellowship, and assistance of the other, the deprivation of which may give rise to a claim for damages.
"Following the severe workplace accident, the plaintiff's spouse filed an additional claim for loss of consortium."
Word Nuance & Usage
Both the Latinate plural 'consortia' and the anglicized plural 'consortiums' are standard, though 'consortia' is generally preferred in academic, scientific, and formal legal writing.
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the early 19th century directly from Latin 'consortium' (meaning 'fellowship' or 'partnership'), derived from 'consors' ('partner' or 'sharer of a common fate'), from 'con-' ('with') and 'sors' ('lot' or 'fortune').