condominium, in modern property law, the individual ownership of one dwelling unit within a multidwelling building, with an undivided ownership interest in the land and other components of the building shared in common with other owners of dwelling units in the building. The condominium as a type of ownership has been present in various forms in Europe since the end of the Middle Ages. In the United States condominium ownership appeared in the latter half of the 19th century and has been popular in crowded urban areas. An alternative to the condominium in the United States is the cooperative, in which residents of a building own shares in a corporation, with each share entitling the owner to reside in a particular unit in the building.
In ancient times condominium meant common ownership by two or more persons of undivided fractional shares in the same property. The term later came to mean joint sovereignty, or rule over one territory by two or more states.