Monopoly

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Monopoly \Mo*nop"o*ly\, n.; pl. {Monopolies}. [L. monopolium,
     Gr. ?, ?; mo`nos alone + ? to sell.]
     1. The exclusive power, or privilege of selling a commodity;
        the exclusive power, right, or privilege of dealing in
        some article, or of trading in some market; sole command
        of the traffic in anything, however obtained; as, the


        proprietor of a patented article is given a monopoly of
        its sale for a limited time; chartered trading companies
        have sometimes had a monopoly of trade with remote
        regions; a combination of traders may get a monopoly of a
        particular product.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Raleigh held a monopoly of cards, Essex a monopoly
              of sweet wines.                       --Macaulay.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Exclusive possession; as, a monopoly of land.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              If I had a monopoly out, they would have part on 't.
                                                    --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. The commodity or other material thing to which the
        monopoly relates; as, tobacco is a monopoly in France.
        [Colloq.]
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  monopoly
       n 1: (economics) a market in which there are many buyers but only
            one seller; "a monopoly on silver"; "when you have a
            monopoly you can ask any price you like"
       2: exclusive control or possession of something; "They have no
          monopoly on intelligence"
       3: a board game in which players try to gain a monopoly on real
          estate as pieces advance around the board according to the
          throw of a die

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  54 Moby Thesaurus words for "monopoly":
     a corner on, arrest, arrestation, bear raid, bull raid, cartel,
     check, consortium, constraint, control, cooling, cooling down,
     cooling off, copyright, corner, corner in, cornering, curb,
     curtailment, deceleration, engrossment, exclusive possession,
     forestallment, hindrance, inhibition, injunction, interdict,
     legal restraint, manipulation, monopolization, ownership, pool,
     possessorship, prohibition, proprietorship, protection,
     protectionism, protective tariff, raid, rationing, rein, restraint,
     restraint of trade, retardation, retrenchment, rigging,
     self-control, slowing down, syndicate, tariff wall,
     thought control, trust, wash sale, washing
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  MONOPOLY, commercial law. This word has various significations. 1. It is the 
  abuse of free commerce by which one or more individuals have procured the 
  advantage of selling alone all of a particular kind of merchandise, to the 
  detriment of the public. 
       2.-2. All combinations among merchants to raise the price of 
  merchandise to the injury of the public, is also said to be a monopoly. 
       3.-3. A monopoly is also an institution or allowance by a grant from 
  the sovereign power of a state, by commission, letters patent, or otherwise, 
  to any person, or corporation, by which the exclusive right of buying, 
  selling, making, working, or using anything, is given. Bac. Abr. h.t.; 3 
  Inst. 181. 
       4. The constitutions of Maryland, North Carolina, and Tennessee, 
  declare that "monopolies are contrary to the genius of a free government, 
  and ought not to be allowed." Vide art. Copyright; Patent.