boardroom

IPA/ˈbɔːdruːm/
KK[bˈɔrdrˌum]IPA/ˈbɔːrdruːm/

boardroom — noun

  • boardroomsingular
  • boardroomsplural

1. a formal meeting room used by a company's board of directors to debate strategy

1.nounB2
Definition

a formal meeting room used by a company's board of directors to debate strategy and vote on key business decisions.

Example

The CEO entered the boardroom and sat at the head of the long table.

demonstrates the physical setting of a boardroom

Fatima presented her quarterly report to the boardroom full of senior executives.

boardroom as the audience location for formal presentations

Common collocations
  • boardroom table
  • boardroom meeting
  • boardroom discussion
  • boardroom door
  • boardroom debate
Synonyms
  • conference room

    a more general term — boardrooms are specifically for directors' meetings, while conference rooms are used by any team or group.

  • meeting room

    a general term for any room where people meet; does not carry the executive-level implication of boardroom.

Grammar Patterns

often used with 'the'

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Boardroom, conference room, and meeting room all describe spaces where people gather, but they differ in formality and purpose. A boardroom is specifically the room where a company's board of directors meets — it carries a formal, executive-level tone and often implies a large table and professional setting. A conference room is a more general term: any room equipped for presentations or group discussions, used by teams at any level. A meeting room is the broadest term, covering any indoor space where a small group can talk. War room is an informal term for a room dedicated to urgent, high-stakes problem-solving, often found in political or corporate crisis settings. You would say 'the boardroom was booked for the annual review' but 'I reserved a conference room for the training session.'

boardroom ↗conference room ↗meeting roomwar room

Common collocations

Nouns

  • boardroom table
  • boardroom meeting
  • boardroom session

Phrases

  • around the boardroom table
  • inside the boardroom

Prepositions

  • in the boardroom
  • into the boardroom
  • to the boardroom

Etymology

English

Boardroom is a compound formed from board (in the sense of 'board of directors', referring to a group of people who manage a company) and room ('a space enclosed by walls'). The use of 'board' to mean a group of managers dates back to the 1500s, when a 'board' referred to a table around which people sat to conduct business. By the early 1900s, 'boardroom' came into use to name the physical room where such meetings were held.

First known use

1732

1732, in the meaning defined above