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symposium (noun):
1a: a convivial party (as after a banquet in ancient Greece) with music and conversation
b: a social gathering at which there is free interchange of ideas
2a: a formal meeting at which several specialists deliver short addresses on a topic or on related topics
b: a collection of opinions on a subject - especially one published by a periodical
c: discussion

Source : Merriam -Webster

Etymology : When you hear the word symposium, you may—quite understandably—envision conferences full of intellectuals giving heady presentations on various arcana. But it was drinking, more than thinking, that drew people to the original symposia and gave us the word. Symposium (symposia or symposiums in plural form) comes from the Greek noun symposion, the word ancient Greeks used for a drinking party that follows a banquet. Symposion in turn comes from sympinein, a verb that combines pinein, meaning “to drink,” with the prefix syn-, meaning “together.” Originally, English speakers only used symposium to refer to such an ancient Greek party, but in the 18th century British gentlemen’s clubs started using the word for confabs in which conversation was fueled by drinking. By the end of the 18th century, symposium had gained the more sober sense we know today, referring to meetings in which the focus is more on imbibing ideas and less on imbibing, say, mead.

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