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.
The recent hashtag "collective hair washing on the 16th" calls for nationwide mass hair washing on the last day of the lunar year, with social media users joking about salons being booked up.
From Barron's
And we’ll never really know what she surrendered to lock that picture in our collective hearts and memories so completely and wonderfully.
From Salon
So there was a collective raising of eyebrows in 2024 when Serbia's government struck a deal with the US president's son-in-law Jared Kushner to redevelop Generalstab through his Affinity Global company.
From BBC
Later, at the football match, Matthew produced—to our collective envy—a new football and a pair of studded boots he said Jack of Diamonds had given him on his last visit.
From Literature
Dupont cannot be stopped by an individual, but rather by a collective, Doris added.
From Barron's
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.
