Etimology
From Middle French conférence, from Medieval Latin cōnferentia, from Latin cōnferēns.
noun
conference (plural conferences)
The act of consulting together formally; serious conversation or discussion; interchange of views.
(politics) A multilateral diplomatic negotiation.
(sciences) A formal event where scientists present their research results in speeches, workshops, posters or by other means.
(business) An event organized by a for-profit or non-profit organization to discuss a pressing issue, such as a new product, market trend or government regulation, with a range of speakers.
(sports) A group of sports teams that play each other on a regular basis.
(Philippines, sports) A constituent tournament of a sports league in a given season.
(obsolete) The act of comparing two or more things together; comparison.
(Methodist Church) A stated meeting of preachers and others, invested with authority to take cognizance of ecclesiastical matters.
A voluntary association of Congregational churches of a district; the district in which such churches are.
Examples
Nor with such free and friendly conference / As he hath used of old.
Mr. Wiley, a lawyer of some ability, was sitting in his office one day, when an elderly gentleman came in and asked to have a few words of conference with him.
helps and furtherances which […] the mutual conference of all men's collections and observations may afford
verb
conference (third-person singular simple present conferences, present participle conferencing, simple past and past participle conferenced)
(transitive, intransitive, education) To assess (a student) by one-on-one conversation, rather than an examination.
Examples
The students who were conferenced on paper 1 will get a written response to paper 2, and those who received a written response to paper 1 will be conferenced on paper 2.