Phrase guide

holding company

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies, as opposed to producing goods or offering services.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: business

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a company with controlling shares in other companies

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: company

Narrower terms: bank holding company

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

30 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: شَرِكَة قَابِضَة (šarika qābiḍa) — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Chinese Mandarin: 控股公司 (kònggǔ gōngsī) — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Danish: holdingselskab — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Esperanto: holdingo — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Finnish: holding-yhtiö — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Finnish: hallintayhtiö — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • French: société faîtière — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • French: société mère — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • French: holding — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • German: Holding-Gesellschaft — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Indonesian: perusahaan pengendali — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Indonesian: perusahaan induk — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Irish: cuideachta sealbhaíochta — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Italian: holding — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Japanese: 持株会社 — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Japanese: 持ち株会社 (mochikabu-gaisha) — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Korean: 지주회사 (jijuhoesa) — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Polish: holding — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Romanian: holding — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Russian: хо́лдинговая компа́ния (xóldingovaja kompánija) — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Russian: хо́лдинг (xólding) — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Russian: матери́нская компа́ния (materínskaja kompánija) — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Spanish: holding (houldin) — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Spanish: compañía gestora — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Spanish: compaña tenedora de acciones — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Spanish: sociedad de cartera — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Spanish: grupo (financiero/industrial/empresarial) — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Swedish: förvaltningsbolag — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Swedish: holdingbolag — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies
  • Turkish: holding — company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies