quorum English · revision 787

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkwɔː.ɹəm/ ''(UK)''; /ˈkwɔːɹəm/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|quōrum|t=of whom]], the genitive plural of ''quī'' “who”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) from the Latin wording of the commissions appointing justices of the peace, ''quorum vos … unum (duos, etc.) esse volumus'', “of whom we wish that you … be one (two, etc.)”.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In law, certain senior justices of the peace whose presence was necessary to constitute a court (1426).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MED)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The justices named in the commission were called the ''justices of the quorum''.^(Etymonline)^(MED) By 1602 the word was applied to similarly distinguished members of other bodies, hence a select company.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) The modern sense, the fixed number of members of a body whose presence is necessary for the valid transaction of business, dates from 1616.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) In the Mormon church a quorum is a body of those in the same grade of priesthood.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1426 – the justices of the quorum.^(Barnhart 1995)^(MED)

+ * 1602 – a select company.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1616 – the minimum number of members needed to transact business.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The minimum number of members of a committee or organization, usually a majority, who must be present for business to be validly transacted.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A select group.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[who]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Wiktionary notes that the plural ''quora'' is sometimes objected to because Latin ''quōrum'' is itself a plural pronoun, not a noun.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}