conference

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The act of consulting together formally; serious conversation or discussion; interchange of views.
  2. The act of comparing two or more things together; comparison.
  3. A multilateral diplomatic negotiation.
  4. A formal event where scientists or other scholars present their research results in speeches, workshops, posters or by other means.
  5. An event organized by a for-profit or non-profit organization to discuss a pressing issue, such as a new product, market trend or government regulation, with a range of speakers.
  6. A group of sports teams that play each other on a regular basis.
  7. A constituent tournament of a sports league in a given season.
  8. A stated meeting of preachers and others, invested with authority to take cognizance of ecclesiastical matters.
  9. A voluntary association of Congregational churches of a district; the district in which such churches are.
  10. A talk or lecture, (Catholicism) especially when given as part of a retreat.
verb
  1. To assess (a student) by one-on-one conversation, rather than an examination.
noun
  1. An autumn cultivar of the European pear Pyrus communis.

Pronunciation

/ˈkɒn.f(ə.)ɹəns/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-conference.wav /ˈkɑn.f(ə.)ɹəns/ [ˈkʰɑɱ.fɹəns] [ˈkʰɑɱ.fɹn̩s] /ˈkɔn.f(ə.)ɹəns/

Word forms

conference conferences conferencing conferenced

Etymology

From Middle French conférence, from Medieval Latin cōnferentia, from Latin cōnferēns, omitting several steps, from con- + ferō. Compare parallel Russian собра́ние (sobránije), Russian сбо́рище (sbórišče), akin to с- (s-), со- (so-) + брать (bratʹ), ultimately from the same Indo-European prefix and root. Also compare congress, convention.

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.