collaboration

American  

[kuh-lab-uh-rey-shuhn] / kəˌlæb əˈreɪ ʃən /

noun

• collaborations
  plural

1. the act or process of working together or cooperating.

   Chat tools provide opportunity for real-time collaboration and dialogue.

2. a product resulting from working together or cooperating.

   This dictionary is a collaboration of many minds.

---

collaboration British  

/ kəˌlæbəˈreɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of working with another or others on a joint project

2. something created by working jointly with another or others

3. the act of cooperating as a traitor, esp with an enemy occupying one's own country

---

Usage

What does collaboration mean? Collaboration is the act of working together, especially on a goal or shared project. It can also be used to refer to a product of collaboration, as in The new single is a  collaboration from the two pop stars. Collaboration is the noun form of the verb collaborate, meaning to work together. Collaboration is often used in a positive context to refer to two or more parties successfully working together on professional or artistic projects. It often implies not just cooperation but sharing and developing of each other’s ideas. Such a joint effort can be described with the adjective collaborative. People who collaborate are called collaborators. Collaboration can also be used in a much more specific way referring to cooperation as a traitor with enemy forces in one’s own country. This is much less commonly used than its general sense. Example: This project would not have happened without close collaboration between all the departments. 

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• collaborationist
  noun
• noncollaboration
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• collaborations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of collaboration

First recorded in 1855–60; from French, from Late Latin collabōrāt ( us ) ( see collaborate) + French -ion -ion

Explanation

When you join a group of friends to build a huge sandcastle on the beach, your impressive structure is the result of collaboration, or working together toward a common goal. Working with another person — or a group of people — to make something together is collaboration. You can also describe the result of your work, like the elaborately decorated cake you made with your best friend, as a collaboration. During World War II, the word collaboration began being used to mean "working traitorously with an enemy," and became a very serious crime.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

collaboration collaborations

She added there would now be "an intensive period of collaboration" between all involved in order "to deliver a contest that meets the high expectations of millions of viewers around the world".

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

Described by the pair as the world’s first “R&B lo-fi tropical wave” album, “Helado Tropical” is a work of uninhibited collaboration.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

The transaction includes a "collaboration and technology-sharing agreement" that retains Boeing's access to Wisk technology for current and next-generation commercial and defense aircraft, the press release said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026

Today’s newsletter was curated by Liz Webber in New York in collaboration with Leigh Kamping-Carder and Zlati Meyer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

His features, which would later settle into pleasant collaboration, were growing at different rates, giving him a curious face that seemed designed by committee.

From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand

“We think this should increase GSK’s R&D productivity long term due to greater collaborations with academia.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

But Burnham's advisers see collaborations with influencers as a way of getting the government's message to audiences it might not normally reach.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

There will also be a focus on collaborations with social media creators.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

Musk described "many collaborations" between Tesla and SpaceX.

From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026

There are no good collaborations, whether in music, in art, in poetry, in mathematics, in philosophy.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Related Words

• association
• collusion
• combination
• concert
• participation
• partnership
• teamwork