monopoly

Pronunciation

• IPA: /məˈnɒpəli/, /məˈnɑpəli/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin monopōlium (“exclusive right of sale”),^[2][3][4] from Ancient Greek μονοπώλιον (monopṓlion, “right of exclusive sale”) (compare μονοπωλία (monopōlía)),^[2][5][6] from μόνος (mónos, “alone, single”) and πωλέω (pōléō, “to sell”),^[7][5][4] from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to sell”).^[7][4][5] The form monopole, from French, was common in the 16th century.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Exclusive possession or control of the trade in a commodity: 1534, in Sir Thomas More.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Tudor and Stuart England a monopoly was often a privilege granted by the Crown to sell a commodity or trade with a region (from 1578),^[2][8] and the word was also used for the crime of engrossing in the 17th century.^[2] The extended sense, exclusive possession of anything, is from 1610,^[2][8] with Etymonline dating it by the 1640s;^[7] the commodity under monopoly is from 1713,^[2] and a company that holds one from 1871.^[2][8] The board game Monopoly is a proprietary name from 1934.^[2][6]

Timeline

• 1534 – exclusive control of a trade.^[2][3]
• 1578 – a privilege granted by the state.^[2]
• 1601 – monopolist.^[3]
• 1610 – exclusive possession of anything.^[2][8]
• 1611 – monopolize.^[3]
• 1871 – a company holding a monopoly.^[2]
• 1934 – the board game.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Exclusive control of the supply of a commodity or service in a market, allowing control of prices.
2. A company or group that has such control, or a commodity controlled in this way.
3. Exclusive possession or control of anything: no one has a monopoly on wisdom.
4. A right granted by a government to be the only seller of something.

Word family

• monopolism
• monopolist
• monopolistic
• monopolistically
• monopoloid
• antimonopoly
• premonopoly
• promonopoly

Related words

• monopole
• oligopoly
• bibliopole

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)