olig-, oligo-

(Greek: prefix; scanty, little, meager, tiny, infrequent; abnormally few or small)

oligopolistic
oligopoly, oligopolies
1. An economic condition in which there are so few suppliers of a particular product that their actions can have a significant impact on prices and on their competitors.
2. A state of limited competition when a market is shared by a small number of producers or sellers.
3. An economic market with few competing producers.
4. Etymology: the suffix -poly, -polies, -polistic used in these words DO NOT refer to the prefix poly-, "many"; but to -poly, meaning, "selling, trading".

The retail gas market is a good example of oligopoly because there is a small number of firms that control a large majority of the market.

Oligopolistic markets are characterised by interactivity. The decisions of one firm influences, and are influenced by, the decisions of the other related firms.

oligoposia
An abnormal self-imposed reduction in fluid intake.
oligoposy
oligopsonistic (adjective)
A descriptive word for an economic condition in which there are so few buyers for a product that one buyer's actions can have a significant impact on prices and the market in general.
oligopsony (s), oligopsonies (pl) (noun forms)
1. A market condition in which purchases are so few that the actions of any one of them can materially affect prices and the costs that competitors must pay.
2. Markets with a very limited number of buyers.
3. An economic condition in which there are so few suppliers of a particular product that one supplier's actions can have a significant impact on prices and on its competitors.
oligoptyalism
1. Deficiency of saliva.
2. Slight or scanty secretion of saliva; also, oligosialia.
oligopyrene
Having a reduced chromosome complement; especially, in a sperm.
oligopyrous
oligorhizous
Having few roots, applied to certain marsh plants.
oligoria
1. An abnormal lack of interest in one's surroundings or relationships, as occurs in depression.
2. Disinterest in former friends or hobbies.
3. An abnormal indifference toward or dislike of people or things.
oligosaccharide
A carbohydrate that on hydrolysis consists of a relatively small number of monosaccharides.
oligosaccharide
A compound made up of the condensation of a small number of monosaccharide units (a simple sugar such as glucose or fructose that cannot be broken down into simpler sugars).
oligosaprobe
oligosaprobic
1. A reference to polluted habitats having a high oxygen concentration, low levels of dissolved organic matter, and a low level of organic decomposition.
2. That part of a stream that is slightly polluted with organic wastes and contains the mineralized products of self-purification from organic pollution, but with none of the organic pollution remaining.

Related "few, small, less, little" word units: micro-; mini-; mio-, meio-; nano-.