"prosumer" meaning in English

See prosumer in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /pɹəʊˈsjuːmə/ [UK]
Etymology: Blend of professional + consumer. Etymology templates: {{blend|en|professional|consumer}} Blend of professional + consumer Head templates: {{en-adj|-}} prosumer (not comparable)
  1. (marketing, of a consumer product) Targeting serious, enthusiastic consumers, incorporating professional features but often modified for non-professional use. Tags: not-comparable
    Sense id: en-prosumer-en-adj-pgzTra2~ Categories (other): Marketing Topics: business, marketing
  2. (marketing, of a consumer product) High-end. Tags: not-comparable
    Sense id: en-prosumer-en-adj-Fnf-UMiJ Categories (other): Marketing, English blends, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English blends: 23 38 19 20 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 24 35 25 16 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 22 45 19 14 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 20 50 18 12 Topics: business, marketing
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Noun

IPA: /pɹəʊˈsjuːmə/ [UK] Forms: prosumers [plural]
Etymology: Blend of producer + consumer, coined by futurologist Alvin Toffler in his book The Third Wave (1980). Concept based on suggestion by Marshall McLuhan and Barrington Nevitt in their 1972 book Take Today (p. 4) that consumers would take on producer roles in mass customization. Etymology templates: {{blend|en|producer|consumer}} Blend of producer + consumer, {{coin|en|Alvin Toffler|nocap=1|occ=futurologist}} coined by futurologist Alvin Toffler Head templates: {{en-noun}} prosumer (plural prosumers)
  1. A person in postindustrial society who combines the economic roles of producer and consumer. Related terms: prosumerism Translations (person in postindustrial society): prosument [masculine] (Polish), prosumidor [masculine] (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-prosumer-en-noun-NCOwc5b4 Categories (other): Entries with translation boxes, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Spanish translations, People Disambiguation of People: 0 0 100 0
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Noun

IPA: /pɹəʊˈsjuːmə/ [UK] Forms: prosumers [plural]
Etymology: Blend of professional + consumer. Etymology templates: {{blend|en|professional|consumer}} Blend of professional + consumer Head templates: {{en-noun}} prosumer (plural prosumers)
  1. A serious, enthusiastic consumer: not professional (earning money), but of similar interest and skills to a (generally lower-level) professional, or aspiring to that. Synonyms: amateur, enthusiast, hobbyist, semiprofessional
    Sense id: en-prosumer-en-noun-vERC5wub
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "producer",
        "3": "consumer"
      },
      "expansion": "Blend of producer + consumer",
      "name": "blend"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Alvin Toffler",
        "nocap": "1",
        "occ": "futurologist"
      },
      "expansion": "coined by futurologist Alvin Toffler",
      "name": "coin"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Blend of producer + consumer, coined by futurologist Alvin Toffler in his book The Third Wave (1980). Concept based on suggestion by Marshall McLuhan and Barrington Nevitt in their 1972 book Take Today (p. 4) that consumers would take on producer roles in mass customization.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "prosumers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "prosumer (plural prosumers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "0 0 100 0",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              176,
              185
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "[1980, Alvin Toffler, The Third Wave:",
          "text": "During the First Wave most people consumed what they themselves produced. They were neither producers nor consumers in the usual sense. They were instead what might be called \"prosumers.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person in postindustrial society who combines the economic roles of producer and consumer."
      ],
      "id": "en-prosumer-en-noun-NCOwc5b4",
      "links": [
        [
          "postindustrial",
          "postindustrial"
        ],
        [
          "economic",
          "economic"
        ],
        [
          "producer",
          "producer"
        ],
        [
          "consumer",
          "consumer"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "prosumerism"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "person in postindustrial society",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "prosument"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "person in postindustrial society",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "prosumidor"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/pɹəʊˈsjuːmə/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Marshall McLuhan",
    "The Third Wave (Toffler book)",
    "mass customization"
  ],
  "word": "prosumer"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "professional",
        "3": "consumer"
      },
      "expansion": "Blend of professional + consumer",
      "name": "blend"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Blend of professional + consumer.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "prosumer (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Marketing",
          "orig": "en:Marketing",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Targeting serious, enthusiastic consumers, incorporating professional features but often modified for non-professional use."
      ],
      "id": "en-prosumer-en-adj-pgzTra2~",
      "links": [
        [
          "marketing",
          "marketing#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "enthusiastic",
          "enthusiastic"
        ],
        [
          "consumer",
          "consumer"
        ],
        [
          "professional",
          "professional"
        ],
        [
          "feature",
          "feature"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(marketing, of a consumer product) Targeting serious, enthusiastic consumers, incorporating professional features but often modified for non-professional use."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of a consumer product"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business",
        "marketing"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Marketing",
          "orig": "en:Marketing",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "23 38 19 20",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English blends",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "24 35 25 16",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "22 45 19 14",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "20 50 18 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "High-end."
      ],
      "id": "en-prosumer-en-adj-Fnf-UMiJ",
      "links": [
        [
          "marketing",
          "marketing#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "High-end",
          "high-end"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(marketing, of a consumer product) High-end."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of a consumer product"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business",
        "marketing"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/pɹəʊˈsjuːmə/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "prosumer"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "professional",
        "3": "consumer"
      },
      "expansion": "Blend of professional + consumer",
      "name": "blend"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Blend of professional + consumer.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "prosumers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "prosumer (plural prosumers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A serious, enthusiastic consumer: not professional (earning money), but of similar interest and skills to a (generally lower-level) professional, or aspiring to that."
      ],
      "id": "en-prosumer-en-noun-vERC5wub",
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "amateur"
        },
        {
          "word": "enthusiast"
        },
        {
          "word": "hobbyist"
        },
        {
          "word": "semiprofessional"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/pɹəʊˈsjuːmə/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "prosumer"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English blends",
    "English coinages",
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms coined by Alvin Toffler",
    "English uncomparable adjectives",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "en:People"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "producer",
        "3": "consumer"
      },
      "expansion": "Blend of producer + consumer",
      "name": "blend"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Alvin Toffler",
        "nocap": "1",
        "occ": "futurologist"
      },
      "expansion": "coined by futurologist Alvin Toffler",
      "name": "coin"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Blend of producer + consumer, coined by futurologist Alvin Toffler in his book The Third Wave (1980). Concept based on suggestion by Marshall McLuhan and Barrington Nevitt in their 1972 book Take Today (p. 4) that consumers would take on producer roles in mass customization.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "prosumers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "prosumer (plural prosumers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "prosumerism"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              176,
              185
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "[1980, Alvin Toffler, The Third Wave:",
          "text": "During the First Wave most people consumed what they themselves produced. They were neither producers nor consumers in the usual sense. They were instead what might be called \"prosumers.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person in postindustrial society who combines the economic roles of producer and consumer."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "postindustrial",
          "postindustrial"
        ],
        [
          "economic",
          "economic"
        ],
        [
          "producer",
          "producer"
        ],
        [
          "consumer",
          "consumer"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/pɹəʊˈsjuːmə/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "person in postindustrial society",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "prosument"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "person in postindustrial society",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "prosumidor"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Marshall McLuhan",
    "The Third Wave (Toffler book)",
    "mass customization"
  ],
  "word": "prosumer"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English blends",
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English uncomparable adjectives",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "en:People"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "professional",
        "3": "consumer"
      },
      "expansion": "Blend of professional + consumer",
      "name": "blend"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Blend of professional + consumer.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "prosumer (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Marketing"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Targeting serious, enthusiastic consumers, incorporating professional features but often modified for non-professional use."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "marketing",
          "marketing#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "enthusiastic",
          "enthusiastic"
        ],
        [
          "consumer",
          "consumer"
        ],
        [
          "professional",
          "professional"
        ],
        [
          "feature",
          "feature"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(marketing, of a consumer product) Targeting serious, enthusiastic consumers, incorporating professional features but often modified for non-professional use."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of a consumer product"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business",
        "marketing"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Marketing"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "High-end."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "marketing",
          "marketing#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "High-end",
          "high-end"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(marketing, of a consumer product) High-end."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of a consumer product"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business",
        "marketing"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/pɹəʊˈsjuːmə/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "prosumer"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English blends",
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English uncomparable adjectives",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "en:People"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "professional",
        "3": "consumer"
      },
      "expansion": "Blend of professional + consumer",
      "name": "blend"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Blend of professional + consumer.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "prosumers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "prosumer (plural prosumers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A serious, enthusiastic consumer: not professional (earning money), but of similar interest and skills to a (generally lower-level) professional, or aspiring to that."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/pɹəʊˈsjuːmə/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "amateur"
    },
    {
      "word": "enthusiast"
    },
    {
      "word": "hobbyist"
    },
    {
      "word": "semiprofessional"
    }
  ],
  "word": "prosumer"
}

Download raw JSONL data for prosumer meaning in English (5.1kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-03-02 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-02-01 using wiktextract (d146717 and 59dc20b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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