quorum

• qorum (1600s)
• qworum, quoram, corum (Scotland, pre-1700)
• qorum (Scotland, 1800s)

Inherited from Middle English quorum (c. 1426), from Anglo-Norman quorum, clipped from the Anglo-Latin wording of commissions in which certain persons were specially designated as members of a body by the words quorum vos unum esse volumus ad etc. (“of whom we want you to be one assigned to etc.”).^[1][2] Latin quōrum is the masculine genitive plural of the relative pronoun quī (“who”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkwɔː.ɹəm/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkwɔːɹəm/
• Rhymes: -ɔːɹəm

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: quo‧rum

quorum (plural quorums or quora)

1. (historical) A select body of (usually eminent) justices of the peace, every member of which had to be present to constitute a deciding body; a member of this body. Later more generally: all justices collectively. [from 1426]
2. The minimum number of members required for a group to officially conduct business and to cast votes, often but not necessarily a majority or supermajority. [from 1616]

   We can discuss the issue tonight but cannot vote until we have a quorum.

   • 2021 August 19, Dianne Gallagher, “Texas Democrats’ effort to freeze voting bill ends”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     Texas House Democrats’ historic quorum break unexpectedly ended Thursday evening when at least three new Democrats returned to the floor, paving the way for state Republicans to pass restrictive voting legislation.
     The surprise turn of events quickly led to public accusations of betrayal among Democrats, as the House now has the required two-thirds of members necessary for a quorum.

   • 2024 December 7, Zachary B. Wolf, “What will be the signature achievement of Trump 2.0?”, in CNN‎^[2]:

     They may not be using the same sort of hard-charging tactics we saw in the first Trump administration, when they would deny Republicans quorums for votes in committee or those kinds of things, but what we will see is they’re going to ask hard questions and make made-for-TV moments.

3. (now rare) Distinguished or essential members of any body; a select company. [from 1596]
4. (computing, distributed systems) The minimum number of votes that a distributed transaction has to obtain in order to be allowed to perform an operation in a distributed system.

The plural quora is sometimes objected to on the grounds that it is not grammatically correct: in Latin, quorum is a plural pronoun, not a singular noun.

From Latin quōrum.

• IPA^(key): /kwoɾum/ [kwo.ɾũm]
• Rhymes: -oɾum, -um
• Hyphenation: quo‧rum

quorum inan

1. quorum

• “quorum”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]

Borrowed from Latin quōrum.

• IPA^(key): /kɔ.ʁɔm/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

quorum m (plural quorums)

1. quorum

• “quorum”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Unadapted borrowing from Latin quōrum, genitive plural form of quī (“who, which”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈkwɔ.rum/
• Rhymes: -ɔrum
• Hyphenation: quò‧rum

quorum m (invariable)

1. quorum (minimum number of members required)

• referendum

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkʷoː.rũː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkʷɔː.rum]

Inherited from Proto-Italic *kʷozom

quōrum

1. (relative) genitive masculine/neuter plural of quī

quōrum

1. (interrogative) genitive masculine/neuter plural of quī

From the clipping of quōrum vōs, see English quorum:

quōrum

1. (interrogative) genitive masculine/neuter plural of quis

Unadapted borrowing from Latin quōrum.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkfɔ.rum/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔrum
• Syllabification: quo‧rum

quorum n (indeclinable)

1. alternative spelling of kworum

• quorum in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• quorum in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Unadapted borrowing from Latin quōrum.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkwoɾum/ [ˈkwo.ɾũm]
• Rhymes: -oɾum
• Syllabification: quo‧rum

quorum m (plural quorums or quorum)

1. alternative form of cuórum

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

• “quorum”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• “quorum”, in Diccionario panhispánico de dudas [Panhispanic Dictionary of Doubts] (in Spanish), 2nd edition, Royal Spanish Academy; Association of Academies of the Spanish Language, 2023, →ISBN
• Manuel Seco; Olimpia Andrés; Gabino Ramos (3 August 2023), “quorum”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA [BBVA Foundation]