symposium
/sɪmˈpəʊzɪəm
/noun (plural symposia /sɪmˈpəʊzɪə/ or symposiums)
1A conference or meeting to discuss a particular subject.There is a long history behind the ICS; most of the early international geological congresses had symposia and meetings to debate and decide stratigraphical procedures and nomenclature....
- She has produced scores of professional publications and reviews, delivered numerous lectures, and conducted many symposia and conference sessions.
- The abundance of conferences, symposia, workshops, colloquia, seminars, and other gatherings devoted to mathematical topics attests to a strong desire for interaction.
1.1A collection of essays or papers on a particular subject by a number of contributors.Keith Young published over 100 papers and contributed to numerous symposia and field guides dealing with Mesozoic biostratigraphy....
- His prior books about large-scale social transformation have been the subjects of numerous review essays and university symposia, and some scholars view them as classics.
- The Journal accepted a paper for a symposium; but now it turns out that four years ago, a coauthor of the paper made what certainly seems like a racist statement.
2A drinking party or convivial discussion, especially as held in ancient Greece after a banquet (and notable as the title of a work by Plato).One song was apparently written for a symposium (drinking party) given by Archidamus II king of Sparta....
- The symposium, or drinking party, would normally have been equipped with vessels of precious metal.
- What inspired this period of dynamic creativity in the production of hydrias for symposia in the last third of the sixth century in Athens?
Origin
Late 16th century (denoting a drinking party): via Latin from Greek sumposion, from sumpotēs 'fellow drinker', from sun- 'together' + potēs 'drinker'.