From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Symposium \Sym*po"si*um\, noun; pl. {Symposia}. [L., fr. Gr. sympo'sion a drinking party, feast; sy'n with + po'sis a drinking. See {Syn-}, and cf. {Potable}.]
1. A drinking together; a merry feast. --T. Warton.
2. A collection of short essays by different authors on a common topic; -- so called from the appellation given to the philosophical dialogue by the Greeks.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: a meeting or conference for the public discussion of some topic especially one in which the participants form an audience and make presentations [also: {symposia} (pl)]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
140 Moby Thesaurus words for "symposium": Festschrift, airing, album, ana, analects, analysis, anthology, assemblee, assembly, assignation, at home, bacchanal, bacchanalia, bacchanalian, ball, bat, beauties, bender, binge, bout, brawl, bust, buzz session, canon, canvassing, carousal, carouse, caucus, celebration, chrestomathy, collectanea, collected works, collection, colloquium, commission, committee, compilation, complete works, compotation, conclave, concourse, conference, congregation, congress, consideration, conventicle, convention, convocation, council, dance, date, debate, debating, debauch, delectus, deliberation, dialectic, dialogue, diet, discussion, drinking, drinking bout, drunk, drunken carousal, drunkenness, eisteddfod, examination, exchange of views, festivity, fete, florilegium, flowers, forgathering, forum, garden, garland, gathering, get-together, gulping, guzzle, guzzling, housewarming, imbibing, imbibition, investigation, jag, joint discussion, lapping, levee, logical analysis, logical discussion, meet, meeting, miscellanea, miscellany, nipping, omnibus, open discussion, open forum, orgy, panel, panel discussion, party, photograph album, plenum, potation, prom, pub-crawl, pulling, quaffing, quorum, quotation book, rally, rap, rap session, reception, rendezvous, review, scrapbook, seance, seminar, session, shindig, sit-in, sitting, slipping, soiree, spree, study, swigging, swilling, synod, tasting, tear, toot, town meeting, treatment, turnout, ventilation, wassail
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Let's see what we can do if we put our heads together.
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