monopolies

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.
   • The sale of the leaves and roots was a Government monopoly, and from it the Kings of Kôr derived a large proportion of their private revenue.1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC

   Antonyms:

   monopsony, polypoly

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.

   Synonyms:

   monopolist

See all 6 meanings of monopoly