Link Centre Dictionary

monopoly

mo·no·poly

UK/məˈnɒpəli/ US/məˈnɑpəli/ fairly common

noun

1.

(economics) a market in which there are many buyers but only one seller

  • “a monopoly on silver”
  • “when you have a monopoly you can ask any price you like”
2.

exclusive control or possession of something

  • “They have no monopoly on intelligence”
3.

a board game in which players try to gain a monopoly on real estate as pieces advance around the board according to the throw of a die

Origin

From Latin monopōlium, from Ancient Greek μονοπώλιον (monopṓlion, “a right of exclusive sale”), from μόνος (mónos, “sole”) + πωλέω (pōléō, “to barter, sell”). By surface analysis, mono- + -poly.

Phrases

  • natural monopoly

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.