monopoly

From Latin monopōlium, from Ancient Greek μονοπώλιον (monopṓlion, “a right of exclusive sale”), from μόνος (mónos, “sole”) + πωλέω (pōléō, “I barter, sell”).

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: mənŏ'pəlē", IPA^(key): /məˈnɒpəˌli/
• (US) enPR: mənä'pəlē", IPA^(key): /məˈnɑpəˌli/

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monopoly (plural monopolies)

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.

   Antonym: monopsony

   Coordinate terms: duopoly, oligopoly

   • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, OCLC 1167497017:

     The sale of the leaves and roots was a Government monopoly, and from it the Kings of Kôr derived a large proportion of their private revenue.

   • 1962, Endacott, G. B.; A. Hinton, “Public Works and Transport”, in Fragrant Harbour: A Short History of Hong Kong‎, Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, published 1977, →ISBN, LCCN 76-57678, OCLC 2969755, page 122:

     In 1918 a Chinese company was given a monopoly to run a service between Victoria and the districts of Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po. Five years later this monopoly was transferred to the Hong Kong and Yaumati Ferry Company, together with the right to run a service to Yau Ma Tei.

   • 2013 August 10, “Can China clean up fast enough?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:

     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.

   • 2014 June 1, “Net Neutrality”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 1, episode 5, HBO:

     Exactly! You can’t reduce the competition when nobody is competing! You could not be describing a monopoly more clearly if you were wearing a metal top hat while driving a metal car after winning second prize in a beauty contest!

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:monopoly.
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. (metonymically) The market thus controlled.
5. (metonymically) The holder (person, company or other) of such market domination in one of the above manners.

   Synonym: monopolist

• monopolistic
• monopolistically
• monopolize, monopolization, monopolizer

• monopoly in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• monopoly in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• "monopoly" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 209.

• IPA^(key): [ˈmonopolɪ]

monopoly

1. nominative plural of monopol
2. accusative plural of monopol
3. vocative plural of monopol
4. instrumental plural of monopol

monopoly m (uncountable)

1. Monopoly (board game)