# quorum

/ˈkwɔɹəm/ (US) · /kwˈɔːɹəm/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/quorum
Updated: 2026-08-08

## Senses

### 1. minimum members for a meeting

noun · CEFR C1 · Formal

the smallest number of people needed at a meeting to make official decisions.

For teachers: the minimum number of members required for a deliberative body to conduct business and cast valid votes.

- The committee could not vote on the new rules because they did not have a quorum.
- The chairperson was forced to adjourn the session early as the departure of several members meant the assembly no longer met the required quorum.

Usage: Usually used with the verbs 'have', 'reach', or 'achieve'.

### 2. distributed systems

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

the minimum number of servers or votes needed in a computer network to finish a task.

For teachers: the minimum number of votes or nodes in a distributed system required to perform a transaction or reach consensus.

- The database update failed because the system could not reach a quorum of servers.
- In a distributed ledger, achieving a quorum is essential to ensure that all nodes agree on the state of the network before a block is committed.

Usage: Often used in the context of cloud computing and blockchain technology.

### 3. a select group

noun · CEFR C2 · Literary · Archaic

a small, special group of people.

For teachers: a select or distinguished company of people.

- A small quorum of experts gathered to discuss the future of the project.
- The evening was attended by a quorum of the city's most influential literary figures.

Teaching tip: This sense is rare in modern English; learners will mostly encounter 'quorum' in legal or business contexts regarding meeting attendance.

## Examples

- The committee could not vote because they did not have a quorum.
- The board meeting was adjourned after only ten minutes because they failed to reach a quorum for the budget vote.
- In distributed systems, achieving a quorum ensures that the cluster can maintain data consistency and prevent a split-brain scenario where two parts of the network operate independently.

---

From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.