symposium Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a meeting or conference for the public discussion of some topic especially one in which the participants form an audience and make presentations

WordNet

Sym*po"si*um noun
Etymology
L., fr. Gr. sympo`sion a drinking party, feast; sy`n with + po`sis a drinking. See Syn-, and cf. Potable.
Wordforms
plural Symposia
Definitions
  1. A drinking together; a merry feast. T. Warton.
  2. A collection of short essays by different authors on a common topic; -- so called from the appellation given to the philosophical dialogue by the Greeks.

Webster 1913