English
conference
Conference comes from Middle French conférence, from Medieval Latin cōnferentia, from Latin cōnferēns (con- + ferō ‘to bring’).
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnferēns1‘gathering, uniting’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500cōnferentia1
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600conférence1
- Englishearliest quotation 1599conference1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English conference
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar: “Nor with such free and friendly conference / As…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnferēnsWiktionary, English conference‘gathering, uniting’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500cōnferentiaWiktionary, English conference
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600conférenceWiktionary, English conference
- Englishearliest quotation 1599conferenceWiktionary, English conference. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar: “Nor with such free and friendly conference / As…”
The story
Also compare congress, convention.
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with conference, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱe ‘Deictic particle, here’
- here ← her ← hēr ← *hēr ← *hē₂r
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm ‘beside, near, by, with’
through Proto-Italic *kom ‘with, along, at’
- cum ← com
- consideration ← consideracioun ← consideracion ← cōnsīderātiō ← cōnsīderō
- cue ← cu ← cum ← com
through Proto-Italic *kom- ‘together’
- competition ← competītiō ← competō
87 more relatives in the full family tree
No ads, ever.
Explore everything descended from cōnferēns →
No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.
Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app
Today it means
noun The act of consulting together formally; serious conversation or discussion; interchange of views.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “conference”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin cōnferēns / conference