Etymologically
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conference

Etymology and origin of the English word conference

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1527
Borrowed from
Middle French conférence
Ultimate origin
Latin (ferre)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈkɒn.fər.əns/, US /ˈkɑːn.fɚ.əns/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French conférence or directly borrowed from Medieval Latin conferentia,[2][3][4] from Latin cōnferēns, the present participle of cōnferre (“to bring together; deliberate, talk over”),[2][5] from com- (“together”) and ferre (“to bear, carry”),[2] from Proto-Indo-European *bher- (“to carry”).[2] It is the noun of confer.[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

1527 according to Merriam-Webster, in the sense “comparison of texts”;[3] the OED dates this sense to 1538.[6] Etymonline gives “the act of consulting together” from the 1550s (1555).[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Several early senses, “contribution, supply” (1545), “comparison, collation” (1538) and “talk, conversation” (1565), are obsolete.[6] A formal meeting for consultation, as between representatives of governments, is from the 1580s (1586).[2][6] In Methodist and other Protestant churches a conference is an assembly of clergy, or clergy and lay members, of a district.[7] A trade association, especially of shipping companies, is from 1894.[6] An association of sports teams that play each other is American usage.[7] The verb is by 1846,[2][6] and a telephone conference call from 1972.[6] The Conference pear is apparently named after the National Pear Conference of 1885.[8]

Timeline

  • 1527 – comparison of texts.[3]
  • 1555 – the act of consulting together.[6]
  • 1586 – a formal meeting.[6]
  • 1846 – verb, to hold a conference.[2][6]
  • 1894 – a trade association.[6]
  • 1972 – a telephone conference.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A formal meeting for discussion or consultation.
  2. A large meeting, often lasting several days, of people with a shared interest: a medical conference.
  3. An exchange of views.
  4. An association of sports teams that play each other.
  5. An assembly of members of a Protestant church from a district.

Verb

  1. To take part in a conference, especially by telephone or video.

Word family

  • conferential
  • teleconference
  • videoconference
  • preconference
  • subconference
  • news conference
  • press conference
  • conference call
  • confer
  • differ
  • defer
  • infer
  • refer
  • transfer
  • offer
  • bear

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Conference.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/conference. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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