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Definition of monopoly : 1. Exclusive possession; as, a monopoly of land.
2. The commodity or other material thing to which the monopoly relates; as, tobacco is a monopoly in France.
3. The exclusive power, or privilege of selling a commodity; the exclusive power, right, or privilege of dealing in some article, or of trading in some market; sole command of the traffic in anything, however obtained; as, the proprietor of a patented article is given a monopoly of its sale for a limited time; chartered trading companies have sometimes had a monopoly of trade with remote regions; a combination of traders may get a monopoly of a particular product.

Synonyms:

control, owned

pool, cartel, union, trust

merger, oligopoly, corner, copyright, patent, syndicate, restraint of trade

Usage examples:

• Lancedale says, a private monopoly like ours is bad, but a government monopoly is intolerable, and the only way the public can get rid of it would be by becoming Literates, themselves." - "Null-ABC", Henry Beam Piper and John Joseph McGuire.
• All wives, however, must be in common, no man having a monopoly of a woman. - "Primitive Love and Love-Stories", Henry Theophilus Finck.
• The German potash industry was well organized and protected by the German Government, which made every effort to maintain a world monopoly. - "The Economic Aspect of Geology", C. K. Leith.