monopoly

See also: Monopoly

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

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

   • 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.
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

Derived terms

• monopolistic
• monopolistically
• monopolize, monopolization, monopolizer

Translations

situation of exclusive supply

• Armenian: մենաշնորհ (hy) (menašnorh)
• Catalan: monopoli m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 獨占 (zh) (dúzhàn), 独占 (zh) (dúzhàn)

• Czech: monopol (cs) m
• Danish: monopol (da) n
• Dutch: monopolie (nl) n
• Esperanto: monopolo (eo)
• Finnish: monopoli (fi)
• French: monopole (fr) m
• Galician: monopolio (gl) m
• German: Monopol (de) n
• Greek: μονοπώλιο (el) n (monopólio)
• Hungarian: monopólium (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Ido: monopolo (io)
• Japanese: 独占 (ja) (どくせん, dokusen), 独り占め (ひとりじめ, hitorijime)
• Khmer: ឯកវិក្កយភាព (aek vi kai yeak pheap)
• Lao: ການຜູກຂາດ (lo) (kān phūk khāt)
• Macedonian: монопол m (monopol)
• Pashto: انحصار (ps) (inhi-saar)
• Persian: انحصار (fa) (enhesâr)
• Polish: monopol (pl) m, samokupstwo n (archaic)
• Portuguese: monopólio (pt) m
• Romanian: monopol (ro) n
• Russian: монопо́лия (ru) f (monopólija)
• Spanish: monopolio (es) m
• Swedish: monopol (sv) n
• Tagalog: sarilakal, saritangi
• Thai: การผูกขาด (gaan-pùuk-kàat)

exclusive possession

• Armenian: մենաշնորհ (hy) (menašnorh)
• Catalan: monopoli m
• Czech: monopol (cs) m
• Danish: monopol (da) n
• Dutch: monopolie (nl) n, alleenbezit n
• Finnish: monopoli (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Galician: monopolio (gl) m
• Greek: μονοπώλιο (el) n (monopólio)
• Portuguese: monopólio (pt) m
• Russian: монопо́лия (ru) f (monopólija)
• Scottish Gaelic: aon-mhargadh m
• Spanish: monopolio (es) m, monopolio (es) m
• Tagalog: sarilakal, saritangi

privilege granting such control

• Catalan: monopoli m
• Czech: monopolní postavení (cs) f
• Danish: monopol (da) n
• Dutch: monopolie (nl) n, alleenrecht (nl) n
• Galician: monopolio (gl) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: monopólio (pt) m
• Scottish Gaelic: aon-mhargadh m
• Spanish: monopolio (es) m
• Swedish: monopol (sv) n

market thus controled

• Catalan: monopoli m
• Danish: monopol (da) n
• Dutch: monopolie (nl) n
• Finnish: monopoli (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Galician: monopolio (gl) m
• Greek: μονοπώλιο (el) n (monopólio)
• Portuguese: monopólio (pt) m
• Russian: монопо́лия (ru) f (monopólija)

holder of such control

• Czech: monopol (cs) m
• Danish: monopolist c
• Dutch: monopolist (nl) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Galician: monopolista m or f
• Scottish Gaelic: lèir-shealbhachd f
• Spanish: monopolista m or f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• (deprecated template usage) Ancient Greek: μονοπώλιον n (monopṓlion)
• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} монопол (bg) (monopol)
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} monopolo (eo)
• French: ^{(please verify)} monopole (fr) m
• German: ^{(please verify)} Monopol (de) n
• (deprecated template usage) Hebrew: מונופול (he) m (monopol)
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} monopoli (id)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} monopoli (it), ^{(please verify)} monopolio (it) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• (deprecated template usage) Japanese: 独占 (ja) (どくせん, dokusen), 専売 (ja) (せんばい, senbai)
• (deprecated template usage) Korean: 전매권 (ko) (jeonmaegwon)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} monopolium (la) n
• (deprecated template usage) Mandarin: 獨佔／独占 (dúzhàn), 独占 (zh) (dúzhàn)
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} monopol (no)
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} monopol (ro) n
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} monopolio (es) m

Further reading

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

---

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmonopolɪ]

Noun

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

---

Spanish

Noun

monopoly m (uncountable)

1. Monopoly (board game)