monopsony
mon·op·so·ny/məˈnɑpsəni/noun
monopsony is spelled M-O-N-O-P-S-O-N-Y: 9 letters and 4 syllables (mon·op·so·ny). It appears about once in every 18 million words in written English, the 127,184th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, monopsony means “A market situation in which there is only one buyer for a product” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of monopsony is monopsonies.
How many letters and syllables are in monopsony?
| Letters | 9: M-O-N-O-P-S-O-N-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: mon·op·so·ny |
| In writing | about once in every 18 million words; the 127,184th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is monopsony?
Monopsony appears about once in every 18 million words in written English, the 127,184th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce monopsony?
- UK /məˈnɒpsəni/
- US /məˈnɑpsəni/
Monopsony has 4 syllables, split mon·op·so·ny in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-monopsony.wav, En-us-monopsony.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of monopsony
- monopsonies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does monopsony mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A market situation in which there is only one buyer for a product.
- 2
A buyer with disproportionate power.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Monopsony in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense market situation in which there is only buyer for a product:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | monopsone |
| German | Monopson |
| Portuguese | monopsônio, monopsónio |
| Spanish | monopsonio |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does monopsony come from?
From Ancient Greek μόνος (mónos, “alone, solitary; singular, unique”) + ὀψωνέω (opsōnéō, “to buy fish or victuals in general”) + -y, modelled after monopoly. ὀψωνέω is from ὄψον (ópson, “delicacies”) + ὠνέομαι (ōnéomai, “to buy, purchase”). The English word was coined by British classics scholar Bertrand Hallward (1901–2003), and popularized by British economist Joan Robinson (1903–1983) in her book The Economics of Imperfect Competition (1933): see the quotation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).