monopoly

noun

mo·​nop·​o·​ly mə-ˈnä-p(ə-)lē How to pronounce monopoly (audio)
plural monopolies
1
: exclusive ownership through legal privilege, command of supply, or concerted action
2
: exclusive possession or control
no country has a monopoly on morality or truthHelen M. Lynd
3
: a commodity controlled by one party
had a monopoly on flint from their quarriesBarbara A. Leitch
4
: one that has a monopoly
The government passed laws intended to break up monopolies.

Did you know?

You're probably familiar with the word monopoly, but you may not recognize its conceptual and linguistic relative, the much rarer oligopsony. Both monopoly and oligopsony are ultimately from Greek, although monopoly passed through Latin before being adopted into English. Monopoly comes from the Greek prefix mono-, which means "one," and pōlein, "to sell." Oligopsony derives from the combining form olig-, meaning "few," and the Greek noun opsōnia—"the purchase of victuals"—which is ultimately from the combination of opson, "food," and ōneisthai, "to buy." It makes sense, then, that oligopsony refers to a buyer's market in which the seller is subjected to the potential demands of a limited pool of buyers. Another related word is monopsony, used for a more extreme oligopsony in which there is only a single buyer.

Examples of monopoly in a Sentence

The government passed laws intended to break up monopolies.
Recent Examples on the Web The government also said Apple had tried to maintain its monopoly by not allowing other companies to build their own digital wallets. Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 22 Mar. 2024 The Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, alleging that the company has established a monopoly with the iPhone that has harmed consumers, developers and competitors. Todd Spangler, Variety, 21 Mar. 2024 The House panel found Apple had a monopoly over iOS app distribution Some developers were able to get the ear of Congress as a House subcommittee carried out its own investigation of the tech giants a few years ago. Lauren Feiner, The Verge, 21 Mar. 2024 The Biden administration sued Apple on Thursday, alleging the tech giant created a monopoly in the smartphone market by blocking competitors from accessing hardware and software features of the iPhone. Alexander Mallin, ABC News, 21 Mar. 2024 But just over a decade ago, another arose to challenge Nintendo’s monopoly on competitive couch games, and along the way has proven itself to be pound-for-pound the best local multiplayer game ever made. Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 13 Mar. 2024 That is now changing and so, too, the notion that any one gender holds a monopoly on being the object of the gaze. Guy Trebay, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2024 Different market structures, such as perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly, impact pricing behavior, product differentiation, and market dynamics. Abdo Riani, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 The Lower Costs, More Transparency Act would take on the anti-competitive and predatory behavior of hospital monopolies that is leading to higher health care costs and affordability issues for my patients. Rob Davidson, Fortune, 7 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'monopoly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Latin monopolium, from Greek monopōlion, from mon- + pōlein to sell

First Known Use

1534, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of monopoly was in 1534

Dictionary Entries Near monopoly

Cite this Entry

“Monopoly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monopoly. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

monopoly

noun
mo·​nop·​o·​ly mə-ˈnäp-(ə-)lē How to pronounce monopoly (audio)
plural monopolies
1
a
: complete control over the entire supply of goods or a service in a certain market
b
: complete possession
2
: a commercial product or service controlled by one person or company
3
: a company that has a monopoly

Legal Definition

monopoly

noun
mo·​nop·​o·​ly mə-ˈnä-pə-lē How to pronounce monopoly (audio)
plural monopolies
1
: exclusive control of a particular market that is marked by the power to control prices and exclude competition and that especially is developed willfully rather than as the result of superior products or skill see also antitrust, Sherman Antitrust Act
2
: one that has a monopoly

More from Merriam-Webster on monopoly

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