What does consortium mean?
Word: Consortium
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Consortium means a group of companies, banks or other organisations that join together for a shared project.
How do you spell consortium?
Syllables: con - sor - ti - um
Tricky part: The word ends in -ium. Consortuim and consortiam are the usual slips, because the vowels at the end run together.
Watch out for: consortuim, consortiam
Memory tip: The last three letters run in alphabetical order, i then u then m, so they never swap places.
Consortium in a sentence
Example 1: Four universities formed a consortium to buy costly journals together.
Example 2: A consortium of airlines ordered the new aircraft in bulk.
Example 3: The stadium was built by a consortium of local firms.
Fun Fact
Its Latin parent described someone who shared the same lot in life, in other words a partner.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
A concortium of five colleges in Pune has agreed to share its laboratories, its library books and its best teachers.
a) laboratories
b) teachers
c) colleges
d) concortium
Show answer
d) concortium. An s comes after the con, not a c: the correct spelling is consortium.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
A motsrunioc of engineering firms has won the contract for the new bridge over the Brahmaputra.
a) commission
b) committee
c) consortium
d) conference
Show answer
c) consortium. Not one of the others has a u, and the jumble does.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word consortium as used in the sentence:
A consortium of seven banks paid for the new metro line.
a) branch
b) budget
c) alliance
d) rivalry
Show answer
c) alliance. The seven banks have joined forces, and an alliance is exactly that.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. shareholdar 2. consortium 3. entreprenuer 4. colaborate
a) someone who starts a business and takes risks
b) to work with others on the same task
c) organisations pooling money for one venture
d) someone who owns part of a company
Show answer
c) organisations pooling money for one venture. Entrepreneur ends in eur, shareholder in er, and collaborate has a double l.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Why might airlines form a consortium?
a) to win customers from one another
b) to split the bill for a costly project
c) to change the colour of their planes
d) to stop flying on certain days
Show answer
b) to split the bill for a costly project
2. A consortium could be ____.
a) a farmer selling mangoes at his gate
b) a teacher writing a book alone
c) a family running one corner shop
d) five firms building a new airport together
Show answer
d) five firms building a new airport together
