/sim poh"zee euhm/ , n. , pl. symposiums, symposia /-zee euh/ .
1. a meeting or conference for the discussion of some subject, esp. a meeting at which several speakers talk on or discuss a topic before an audience.
2. a collection of opinions expressed or articles contributed by several persons on a given subject or topic.
3. an account of a discussion meeting or of the conversation at it.
4. (in ancient Greece and Rome) a convivial meeting, usually following a dinner, for drinking and intellectual conversation.
5. ( cap., italics ) a philosophical dialogue (4th century B.C.) by Plato, dealing with ideal love and the vision of absolute beauty.
[ 1580-90; sympósion drinking party, equiv. to sym- SYM- + po- (var. s. of pínein to drink) + -sion n. suffix ]