round-table conference
- noun
- /ˈraʊndˌteɪbəl ˈkɒnfərəns/
:
conferencia de mesa redonda
- Participants agreed to hold a round-table conference every month to discuss ongoing community issues.
Examples
-
During the round-table conference, experts shared their insights on climate change and possible solutions.
-
Following a round table conference in Brussels, the government of Belgium announced a date for independence in six months.
Academic text (1991) -
The negotiators met for a round-table conference to discuss peace agreements between the two countries.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A group of people who come together for a planned purpose or to be social
101
4.3
A meeting where people at the same level share and discuss ideas
8
2.2
A planned time when several people come together to talk about something
7
3.3
A discussion where people who are equal share ideas about a topic
3
2.0
A conversation among several people about one topic to share ideas or make a decision
How Formal
- Formal
420
4.4
- Formal
∞
3.0
∞
1.0
∞
1.4
- Informal
312
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
round-table + conference
A B1 learner who knows 'conference' and the literal words 'round' + 'table' can infer that this is a type of meeting held in a round‑table format (people seated around a table) and thus understand the basic idea of a meeting. However, the pragmatic implication that participants have equal status and the specific discussion-style connotation are partly cultural/metaphorical and not fully predictable from the parts alone, so the phrase is only partially compositional.
Etymology
The noun round-table conference comes from the idea of a round table where no one sits at the 'head', so everyone has 'equal status'. Because of that picture, a round-table conference means a meeting where people of similar rank sit together to talk and share views.