monopoly

Etymology

From Latin monopōlium, from Ancient Greek μονοπώλιον (monopṓlion, “a right of exclusive sale”), from μόνος (mónos, “sole”) + πωλέω (pōléō, “I barter, sell”).

noun

1. A situation, by legal privilege or other agreement, in which solely one party (company, cartel etc.) exclusively provides a particular product or service, dominating that market and generally exerting powerful control over it.
   In 1918 a Chinese company was given a monopoly to run a service between Victoria and the districts of Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po. Five years later this monopoly was transferred to the Hong Kong and Yaumati Ferry Company, together with the right to run a service to Yau Ma Tei. 1962, G. B. Endacott, A. Hinton, “Public Works and Transport”, in Fragrant Harbour: A Short History of Hong Kong, Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, published 1977, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 122
   It has jailed environmental activists and is planning to limit the power of judicial oversight by handing a state-approved body a monopoly over bringing environmental lawsuits. 2013-08-10, “Can China clean up fast enough?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848
   Exactly! You can’t reduce the competition when nobody is competing! You could not be describing a monopoly more clearly if you were wearing a metal top hat while driving a metal car after winning second prize in a beauty contest! Jun 1 2014, “Net Neutrality”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 1, episode 5, John Oliver (actor), via HBO
2. An exclusive control over the trade or production of a commodity or service through exclusive possession.
   A land monopoly renders its holder(s) nearly almighty in an agricultural society.
3. The privilege granting the exclusive right to exert such control.
   Granting monopolies in concession constitutes a market-conform alternative to taxation for the state, while the crown sometimes bestowed a monopoly as an outrageous gift.
4. (metonymically) The market thus controlled.
5. (metonymically) The holder (person, company or other) of such market domination in one of the above manners.