consortium

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cōnsortium (“fellowship, partnership, participation”),^[2][3][4][5] from cōnsors (“partner; sharing the same lot”),^[2][3][4][6] from com- (“with, together”) and sors (“lot, share”),^[3] from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to line up”).^[3] It is thus formed on the same Latin word as consort.^[3][7][4] The Latin noun is also the source of Italian consorzio and Old French consorce.^[2] Etymonline notes that it was used earlier as a Latin word in English law, from the 1650s.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Partnership, association: 1829, in the Edinburgh Review.^[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

The general sense of partnership is now rare.^[7] In law, from 1836, it named the companionship and support that each spouse in a marriage is entitled to receive from the other;^[2][7] claims for loss of consortium still use it in this sense.^[8] The modern sense, an association of companies, banks or states formed for a commercial or financial purpose, dates from the late 19th century in the Shorter Oxford.^[7][2] Since 1964 the word has also been used loosely of any group or collection.^[2][7]

Timeline

• 1829 – partnership, association.^[2][6]
• 1836 – in law, the fellowship of husband and wife.^[2]
• late 19th century – an association of business or financial organizations.^[7]
• 1964 – any association or collection.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An association of companies, banks, organizations or states formed for a particular purpose: A consortium of three banks financed the bridge.^[9][6][2]
2. (law) The companionship, help and affection that each spouse may expect from the other.^[9][8][7]
3. Any group or collection.^[2][7]

Word family

• consortial

Related words

• consort
• sort

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins