Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The minimal number of officers and members of a committee or organization, usually a majority, who must be present for valid transaction of business.
- n. A select group.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In England, those justices of the peace whose presence is necessary to constitute a bench. Among the justices of the peace it was formerly customary to name some eminent for knowledge and prudence to be of the quorum; but the distinction is now practically obsolete, and all justices are generally “of the quorum.”
- n. The number of members of any constituted body of persons whose presence at or participation in a meeting is required to render its proceedings valid, or to enable it to transact business legally. If no special rule exists, a majority of the members is a quorum; but in a body of considerable size the quorum may by rule be much less than a majority, or in a smaller one much more. Forty members constitute a quorum or “house” in the British House of Commons.
- n. Requisite materials.
Wiktionary
- n. 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.
- n. A selected body of persons.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Such a number of the officers or members of any body as is competent by law or constitution to transact business
WordNet 3.0
- n. a gathering of the minimal number of members of an organization to conduct business
Etymologies
- From Latin quōrum, genitive plural form of quī ("who, which"), used as standard wording in written commissions. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, quorum of justices of the peace, from Latin quōrum, of whom (from the wording of a commission naming certain persons as members of a body), genitive pl. of quī, who. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Two things: An ‘old-fashioned’ filibuster requires not only the filibuterer to speak, but at least 49 filibusterees to be in the chamber listening, else the speaker suggests the absence of a quorum, and can take a break while a quorum is assembled.”
“They've been to what they call a quorum call for some time now, trying to figure it out.”
“You did have what we call a quorum, more than half where they are voting.”
“The term quorum shall not apply to such gatherings. ”
“This means that the body has to stop what its doing and quickly check if a quorum is present, which for the Senate is a simple majority.”
“Since a quorum is 50 Senators or more, that means Senators who want to prevent a vote have to maintain 17 Senators close enough to get to the floor to vote 24/7.”
“Mr. President, I yield the floor and I make a point of order that a quorum is not present.”
Wonk Room » Sen. Byron Dorgan: The ‘Trade’ In Cap-And-Trade ‘Makes No Sense To Me’
“But, if no one objects, then the presence of a quorum is presumed, even though anyone with two eyes can see that not enough people are present.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Blatant Unconstitutionality Started Early
“Furthermore, the fact that a quorum is required by the Constitution for business to be conducted implies that a sufficient number of specific members must give specific agreement to specific bills for them to go to the President.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Is the Slaughter Solution constitutional?
“She apparently didn't know what a quorum is either.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘quorum’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Q words
Ever get stuck with the random bunch of letters and a q and not know any words? Well, maybe this will help.
quire, quais, quai, queer, quoit, quitrent, quipster, question, quest, questing, quests, quit and 208 more...
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EU Buzz - ALL words and expressions
A combined list of
1. EU Buzz - single words
2. EU Buzz - collocations
3. EU Buzz - the 100 most active
collocation constituentsabsorption capacity, absorption rate, acceding country, accession candidate, accession countries, accession country, accession criteria, accession cycle, accession negotia..., accession partner..., accession priorities, accession treaty and 2650 more...
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GRE Barron's 800
abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abject, abjure, abscission, abscond, abstemious, abstinence, abysmal, accretion and 787 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11250 more...
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EU - Eurovoc - politics
absolute majority, absolute monarchy, abstentionism, access to informa..., acquisition of arms, action brought be..., action for annulment, action to establi..., ad hoc committee, adjournment, adjournment motion, administration and 965 more...
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POL - legislation
US Congress/Senate + Westminster + European Parliament usage
across the desk, act, action, adjournment, adjournment sine die, adoption, advise and consent, amendment, analysis of the b..., apportionment, appropriation, appropriations limit and 652 more...
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Groups
Words synonymous with 'group.'
congregation, crowd, gaggle, flock, clique, bunch, cluster, herd, mass, mob, multitude, organization and 118 more...
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EU - Parliament vocabulary
Terms associated with the workings of the European Parliament
action for annulment, adjournment of de..., admissibility of ..., adoption of a text, agenda, allowances of MEPs, amendment, assent procedure, associated commit..., attendance register, blue card, breach of the Mem... and 241 more...
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EU Buzz - Lisbon Treaty
All words of the Lisbon Treaty
(Persons' names, foreign and grammatical words have been eliminated, MWEs have been split up into individual words. Capitalization has been retained if r...conferral, stateless, person, voting, right, subsidiarity, Latvia, Malta, Slovenia, Lithuania, Finland, Estonia and 2614 more...
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EU Buzz - single words (1+2+3)
1. Strictly EU terms with special European meaning used only in the EU
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2. Keywords central to the understanding of the EU (people working for the EU are usually able to give thematic...acceleration, action, additionality, administrator, agenda, agricultural, agri-environmental, agriflation, agri-food, applicant, approach, assent and 1325 more...
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US - Congress vocabulary
population shift, symbolic represen..., logrolling, pocket veto, personal judgment, pork barrel, televise, elected official, reapportionment, redistribute, cloture, standing committee and 70 more...
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Good ol' qu-
quag, quagga, quaff, querulous, quorum, sesquipedalian, quibble, quip, aquiline, quote, quotationist, quoter and 29 more...
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Vocabulary 2
peril, precinct, embolden, trepidation, glean, quorum, laud, leap, leery, fumble, repertory, serendipity and 3 more...
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MUN Vocabulary
suspend, abstain, adjourn, agenda, amendment, binding, background guide, bloc, caucus, chair, dais, decorum and 41 more...
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Congregation
Clusters, gatherings, and groups of humans.
alliance, circle, council, federation, fraternity, league, assembly, company, group, flock, crowd, mob and 99 more...
Tweets
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