1. 1. A meeting for consultation or discussion.
   2. An exchange of views.
   3. A meeting of committees to settle differences between two legislative bodies.
2. An assembly of clerical or of clerical and lay members from a particular district in various Protestant churches.
3. Sports. An association of teams.
4. The act of conferring, as of an academic degree.

[Medieval Latin cōnferentia, from Latin cōnferēns, cōnferent-, present participle of cōnferre, to bring together. See confer.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.