monopoly
noun
Helen M. LyndBarbara A. Leitch
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
Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 24 Oct. 2025
Innovative agreements like this are paramount to challenging China’s monopoly on critical minerals.
—Young Kim, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
Attempts to shatter the Spanish monopoly in the Caribbean accelerated in the 1540s.
—Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
But Atlas’ launch comes at a time when industry analysts are raising questions about Google’s role in the future of the web, a key theme that came up in the Justice Department’s landmark search monopoly antitrust case against the company.
—Lisa Eadicicco, CNN Money, 22 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for monopoly
Cite this Entry
“Monopoly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monopoly. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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