quo·rum

[kwawr-uhm, kwohr-]
noun
1.
the number of members of a group or organization required to be present to transact business legally, usually a majority.
2.
a particularly chosen group.

Origin:
1425–75; < Latin quōrum of whom; from a use of the word in commissions written in Latin specifying a quorum

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World English Dictionary
quorum (ˈkwɔːrəm) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
a minimum number of members in an assembly, society, board of directors, etc, required to be present before any valid business can be transacted: the quorum is forty; we don't have a quorum
 
[C15: from Latin, literally: of whom, occurring in Latin commissions in the formula quorum vos…duos (etc) volumus of whom we wish that you be…two]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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00:10
Quorum is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

quorum
1426, in ref. to certain eminent justices of the peace, from L. quorum "of whom," gen. pl. of qui (see who). The traditional wording of the commission appointing justices of the peace translates as, "We have also assigned you, and every two or more of you (of whom [quoram vos]
any one of you the aforesaid A, B, C, D, etc. we will shall be one) our justices to inquire the truth more fully." The justices so-named were usually called the justices of the quorum. Meaning "fixed number of members whose presence is necessary to transact business" is first recorded 1616.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary
quorum [(kwawr-uhm)]

The minimum number of members of a committee or legislative body who must be present before business can officially or legally be conducted. In the United States Congress, for example, either house must have a majority (218 in the House of Representatives, 51 in the Senate) to have a quorum.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
It was our only chance to gather a quorum fit for such an announcement.
The generals seem to be alarmed by the prospect of a low turnout, though the
  election laws do not require a quorum.
If the quorum was not met, there would be another election.
Many of the bacteria close to pathogens are able to inhibit them by interfering
  with their quorum sensing.
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