quorum

Noun

quorum (plural quorums or quora)

1. (historical) A select body of (usually eminent) justices of the peace, every member of which had to be present to constitute a deciding body; a member of this body. Later more generally: all justices collectively.
2. The minimum number of members required for a group to officially conduct business and to cast votes, often but not necessarily a majority or supermajority.
   • We can discuss the issue tonight but cannot vote until we have a quorum.
   • Texas House Democrats’ historic quorum break unexpectedly ended Thursday evening when at least three new Democrats returned to the floor, paving the way for state Republicans to pass restrictive voting legislation.
   • The surprise turn of events quickly led to public accusations of betrayal among Democrats, as the House now has the required two-thirds of members necessary for a quorum.2021 August 19, Dianne Gallagher, “Texas Democrats’ effort to freeze voting bill ends”, in CNN
3. (archaic) Distinguished or essential members of any body; a select company.
4. (distributed systems) The minimum number of votes that a distributed transaction has to obtain in order to be allowed to perform an operation in a distributed system.