conference
UK /ˈkɒn.f(ə.)ɹəns/ · US /ˈkɑn.f(ə.)ɹəns/ noun, verb
Forms conferences conferencing conferenced
- noun The act of consulting together formally; serious conversation or discussion; interchange of views.
- noun (obsolete) The act of comparing two or more things together; comparison.
- noun (politics) A multilateral diplomatic negotiation.
- noun (academia) A formal event where scientists or other scholars present their research results in speeches, workshops, posters or by other means.
- noun (business) 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.
- noun (sports) A group of sports teams that play each other on a regular basis.
- noun (Philippines, sports) A constituent tournament of a sports league in a given season.
- noun (Methodist Church) A stated meeting of preachers and others, invested with authority to take cognizance of ecclesiastical matters.
- verb (ambitransitive, education) To assess (a student) by one-on-one conversation, rather than an examination.
- noun An autumn cultivar of the European pear Pyrus communis.
Synonyms
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.
After the National British Pear Conference in London in 1885, at which this cultivar won the first prize.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The act of comparing two or more things together; comparison.
- noun The act of consulting together formally; serious conversation or discussion; interchange of views.
Etymology [F. conférence. See Confer.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “conference”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details