Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Language: Latin
Origin: monopolium, from Greek, from mono- ( MONO-) + polein 'to sell'

monopoly

 noun
     
Related topics: Business Basics
mo‧nop‧o‧ly plural monopolies
1 [countable]BB if a company or government has a monopoly of a business or political activity, it has complete control of it so that other organizations cannot compete with it
monopoly of
They are demanding an end to the Communist Party's monopoly of power.
the state monopoly of television
monopoly on/in
For years Bell Telephone had a monopoly on telephone services in the US.
a monopoly in copper trading
2 [countable] a large company that controls all or most of a business activity:
The company is a state-owned monopoly.
3 [singular] if someone has a monopoly on something, that thing belongs to them, and no one else can share it:
Teachers do not have a monopoly on educational debate.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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