monopoly
Meaning
- A situation, by legal privilege or other agreement, in which solely one party (company, cartel etc.) exclusively provides a particular product or service, dominating that market and generally exerting powerful control over it.
- An exclusive control over the trade or production of a commodity or service through exclusive possession.
- The privilege granting the exclusive right to exert such control.
- The market thus controlled.
- The holder (person, company or other) of such market domination in one of the above manners.
Synonyms
exclusive possession
hoardig
special occupation
principal occupation
proprietary articles
proprietary materials
subject of numerous patents
Frequency
Pronounced as (IPA)
/məˈnɒpəli/
Etymology
From Latin monopōlium, from Ancient Greek μονοπώλιον (monopṓlion, “a right of exclusive sale”), from μόνος (mónos, “sole”) + πωλέω (pōléō, “I barter, sell”). By surface analysis, mono- + -poly.
Bookmark this
Improve your pronunciation
Start learning English with learnfeliz.
Practice speaking and memorizing "monopoly" and many other words and sentences in English.
Go to our English course page
Notes