collaborate
Americanverb (used without object)
verb
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to work with another or others on a joint project
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to cooperate as a traitor, esp with an enemy occupying one's own country
Usage
What does collaborate mean? Collaborate means to work together, especially on a goal or shared project. Collaborate 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 more than just cooperation. When two or more people collaborate, they often share and develop each other’s ideas. The act of collaborating is called collaboration. Such a joint effort can be described with the adjective collaborative. People who collaborate are called collaborators. Collaborate can also be used in a much more specific way meaning to cooperate as a traitor with enemy forces in one’s own country. This is much less commonly used than its general sense. Example: The two musicians, who usually have very different styles, collaborated on the groundbreaking new album.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have collaboratedperfect
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has collaboratedperfect 3rd person singular
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have been collaboratingperfect progressive
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is collaboratingprogressive 3rd person singular
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are collaboratingprogressive
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collaboratessingular 3rd person
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has been collaboratingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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am collaboratingprogressive 1st person singular
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collaboratingparticiple
Past
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had collaboratedperfect
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was collaboratingprogressive singular
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had been collaboratingperfect progressive
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were collaboratingprogressive plural
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collaboratedsimple
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collaboratedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of collaborate
First recorded in 1870–75; from Late Latin collabōrātus (past participle of collabōrāre), equivalent to col- col- 1 + labor “work” + -ātus -ate 1
Compare meaning
How does collaborate compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
When you work together on shared goal, you collaborate. If you don't just split a project up evenly but work together on creating solutions, you collaborate. Inside the word you see co-labor, or "working together." Cooperation is simply splitting up the work and getting it done. Collaboration is when you brainstorm, create, and share possible solutions. During World War II, however, Nazi collaborators were sharing ideas with the wrong side. In today's pop music scene, collaboration means featuring a guest star on a record, and it's often a surefire way to boost sales.
Vocabulary lists containing collaborate
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The Diary of Anne Frank
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Essential English Vocabulary, List 1
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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.
Zandt came out of retirement to collaborate on the new research and is listed as a coauthor.
From Science Daily • Jun. 3, 2026
Curry and Li-Ning will collaborate on new products and on plans to launch his signature chain of shops in the US and China.
From BBC • Jun. 2, 2026
Russia and America might also collaborate to protect Christians in the Middle East and Africa, and perhaps to limit the Iranian nuclear program.
From MarketWatch • May 31, 2026
This might include federal R&D targeted at designing AI to collaborate with workers and loosening occupational licensing rules.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 31, 2026
At the end of November, Seaborg reached him by letter with a proposal to collaborate on the search for 94 in McMillan’s absence.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
