Monopoly

Pronunciation

• RP enPR: mÉ™nŏ'pÉ™lÄ“", IPA: /məˈnÉ’pəˌli/
• US enPR: mÉ™nä'pÉ™lÄ“", IPA: /məˈnÉ‘pəˌli/

Origin

From Latin monopōlium, from Ancient Greek μονοπώλιον (monopōlion, "a right of exclusive sale"), from μόνος (monos, "sole") + πωλέω (pōleō, "I barter, sell").

Full definition of monopoly

Noun

1. 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.
• 2013-08-10, Can China clean up fast enough?, It has jailed environmental activists and is planning to limit the power of judicial oversight by handing a state-approved body a monopoly over bringing environmental lawsuits.
2. An exclusive control over the trade or production of a commodity or service through exclusive possession.
   A land monopoly renders its holder(s) nearly almighty in an agricultural society.
3. The privilege granting the exclusive right to exert such control.
   Granting monopolies in concession constitutes a market-conform alternative to taxation for the state, while the crown sometimes bestowed a monopoly as an outrageous gift.
4. (metonymy) The market thus controlled.
5. (metonymy) The holder (person, company or other) of such market domination in one of the the above manners.

Synonyms

• (holder) monopolist

Antonyms

• monopsony

Derived terms

• monopolistic
• monopolistically
• monopolize, monopolization, monopolizer

Related terms

• duopoly
• oligopoly