Meanings
nounsymposium (plural symposiums or symposia)
plural symposiums · plural symposia
- A conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations.
- A drinking party in Ancient Greece, especially one with intellectual discussion.
- A collection of essays, articles or papers on a particular subject by a number of contributors.
THE CONCISE ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF WORLD RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVES. Edited by P. Ransome-Wallis. Hutchinson. 50s. [...] The work is a symposium by writers who are mostly specialists in the topics about which they write.
1960 January, “New reading on railways”, in Trains Illustrated, page 26
Origin
- Ancient Greekσυμπόσιον“drinking party”
- Latinsymposium
- Englishsymposium
Borrowed from Latin symposium, from Ancient Greek συμπόσιον (sumpósion, “drinking party”) from συμπίνω (sumpínō, “drink together”), from συν- (sun-, “together-”) + πίνω (pínō, “drink”). Morphologically compare compotation.
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek σῠμπόσῐον, σῠμπόσῐον
- σῠμπόσῐον (sŭmpósĭon)a conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
- σῠμπόσῐον (sŭmpósĭon)a drinking party in Ancient Greece, especially one with intellectual discussion
- συμπόσιον (sumpósion)a collection of essays, articles or papers on a particular subject by a number of contributors
Arabic سِمْبُوزِيُوم, نَدْوَة
- سِمْبُوزِيُوم (simbūziyūm)a conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
- نَدْوَة (nadwa)a conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Bulgarian симпо́зиум, пиршество
- симпо́зиум (simpózium)a conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
- пиршество (piršestvo)a drinking party in Ancient Greece, especially one with intellectual discussion
- симпозиум (simpozium)a collection of essays, articles or papers on a particular subject by a number of contributors
Catalan simpòsium, simposi
- simpòsiuma conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
- simposia conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Chinese Mandarin 討論會 /讨论会, 座談會 /座谈会
- 討論會 /讨论会 (tǎolùnhuì)a conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
- 座談會 /座谈会 (zuòtánhuì)a conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
- 研討會 /研讨会 (yántǎohuì)a conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Czech sympozium
- sympoziuma conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Danish symposium
- symposiuma conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Dutch symposium
- symposiuma conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Esperanto simpozio
- simpozioa conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Estonian sümpoosion
- sümpoosiona conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Finnish symposiumi, symposium
- symposiumia conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
- symposiuma conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
- esitelmäkokousa conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
French symposium
- symposiuma conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
German Fachtagung, Symposium
- Fachtagunga conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
- Symposiuma conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
- Symposiona conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
- Symposiona drinking party in Ancient Greece, especially one with intellectual discussion
- Symposiuma collection of essays, articles or papers on a particular subject by a number of contributors
Greek συμπόσιο, συμπόσιο
- συμπόσιο (sympósio)a conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
- συμπόσιο (sympósio)a drinking party in Ancient Greece, especially one with intellectual discussion
- συμπόσιο (sympósio)a collection of essays, articles or papers on a particular subject by a number of contributors
Hindi संगोष्ठी, गोष्ठी
- संगोष्ठी (saṅgoṣṭhī)a conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
- गोष्ठी (goṣṭhī)a conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Hungarian szimpózium
- szimpóziuma conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Indonesian sarasehan, simposium
- sarasehana conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
- simposiuma drinking party in Ancient Greece, especially one with intellectual discussion
Italian simposio, convegno
- simposioa conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
- convegnoa conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Japanese シンポジウム
- シンポジウム (shinpojiumu)a conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Korean 심포지엄
- 심포지엄 (simpojieom)a conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Latvian simpozijs
- simpozijsa conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Lithuanian simpoziumas
- simpoziumasa conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Norwegian Bokmål symposium
- symposiuma conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Persian سمپوزیوم
- سمپوزیوم (sampozyum)a conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Polish sympozjum
- sympozjuma conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Portuguese simpósio
- simpósioa conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Romanian simpozion
- simpoziona conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Russian симпо́зиум, симпо́сий
- симпо́зиум (simpózium)a conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
- симпо́сий (simpósij)a drinking party in Ancient Greece, especially one with intellectual discussion
- симпозиум (simpozium)a collection of essays, articles or papers on a particular subject by a number of contributors
Slovak sympózium
- sympóziuma conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Spanish simposio
- simposioa conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Swahili kongamano
- kongamanoa conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Swedish symposium
- symposiuma conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Tagalog sampaksaan
- sampaksaana conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Turkish bilgi şöleni, sempozyum
- bilgi şölenia conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
- sempozyuma conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Ukrainian симпо́зіум, симпо́сій
- симпо́зіум (sympózium)a conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
- симпо́сій (sympósij)a drinking party in Ancient Greece, especially one with intellectual discussion
- симпозіум (sympozium)a collection of essays, articles or papers on a particular subject by a number of contributors
Vietnamese hội nghị chuyên đề
- hội nghị chuyên đềa conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Welsh trafodaeth
- trafodaetha conference or other meeting for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants make presentations
Cite this entry
APA
symposium. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/symposium
MLA
“symposium.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/symposium. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “symposium,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/symposium.
Source: symposium on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.