Bill Tibbetts
Associate Broker 
A Real Estate Word.
January 26, 2010
Sign up for “A.Word.A.Day” at Wordsmith.org and you get exactly that. You will receive, via email, a new word everyday.
Today’s word was “oligopoly”. You pronounce that “ol-i-GOP-uh-lee”.
Oligopoly is a noun that describes a market condition where there are few sellers and many buyers. The current real estate market is NOT an oligopoly.
Fortunately, the folks at “A.Word.A.Day” provide the word with the opposite meaning. That word would be “oligopsony”. You pronounce that “ol-i-GOP-so-nee”. Oligopsony is a noun that describes a market condition where there are a few buyers and many sellers.
Here’s a list that reveals a descriptive word for other market conditions.
monopoly: one seller, many buyers
duopoly: two sellers, many buyers
oligopoly: a few sellers, many buyers
monopsony: one buyer, many sellers
duopsony: two buyers, many sellers
oligopsony: a few buyers, many sellers
duopoly: two sellers, many buyers
oligopoly: a few sellers, many buyers
monopsony: one buyer, many sellers
duopsony: two buyers, many sellers
oligopsony: a few buyers, many sellers
sadopoly – one seller, no buyers.
Comment by Anonymous — January 27, 2010 @ 8:38 am