oligopsony

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noun

An economic condition in which a small number of buyers exert control over the market price of a commodity.

OriginAncient Greek ὀλίγοι →
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Meanings

nounoligopsony (plural oligopsonies)

plural oligopsonies

  1. An economic condition in which a small number of buyers exert control over the market price of a commodity.

    This policy combines a) replacing an oligopsony of school districts with a state monopsonist and b) an identical wage in each school district.

    2026 July 28, Tirza J. Angerhofer, Allan Collard-Wexler, Matthew C. Weinberg, “Oligopsony and Collective Bargaining”, in NBER Working Paper Series, number 35476, page 4

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekὀλίγοι“few”
  2. Englisholigopsony

From Ancient Greek ὀλίγοι (olígoi, “few”) + ὀψωνία (opsōnía, “purchase”).

More words from Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

oligopsony. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oligopsony

MLA

“oligopsony.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oligopsony. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “oligopsony,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oligopsony.

Source: oligopsony on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.