collective
Americanadjective
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formed by collection.
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forming a whole; combined.
the collective assets of a corporation and its subsidiaries.
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of or characteristic of a group of individuals taken together.
the collective wishes of the membership.
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organized according to the principles of collectivism.
a collective farm.
noun
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a collective body; group.
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a business, farm, etc., jointly owned and operated by the members of a group.
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a unit of organization or the organization in a collectivist system.
adjective
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formed or assembled by collection
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forming a whole or aggregate
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of, done by, or characteristic of individuals acting in cooperation
noun
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a cooperative enterprise or unit, such as a collective farm
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the members of such a cooperative
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short for collective noun
Other Word Forms
- collectively adverb
- collectiveness noun
- noncollective adjective
- uncollective adjective
Etymology
Origin of collective
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English collectif (from Middle French ), from Latin collēctīvus, equivalent to collēct(us) (past participle of colligere; collect 1 ) + -īvus -ive
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Unfortunately, she said, “young people sometimes learn that being compliant is valued more than speaking up. Schools are important places to learn to replace invisibility and self-sacrifice with personal and collective pride, agency and voice.”
From Los Angeles Times
Albanese warned that the international response would be a test of countries' collective legal and moral responsibility.
From Barron's
England want their culture and environment to be "positive, relaxed and high-performance", with "better individual and collective decision-making".
From BBC
Train workers were staging a 24-hour strike on Monday in what their union called "an act of collective remembrance, protest and democratic vigilance".
From Barron's
But collective opinion is formed in a vacuum and spit out as gospel, and that’s not a fair way to approach movies.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
