collaboration
Americannoun
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collaborations
plural
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the act or process of working together or cooperating.
Chat tools provide opportunity for real-time collaboration and dialogue.
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a product resulting from working together or cooperating.
This dictionary is a collaboration of many minds.
noun
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the act of working with another or others on a joint project
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something created by working jointly with another or others
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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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
Vocabulary lists containing collaboration
Outliers
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World War II
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This Week in Pop Culture: November 3 - 9, 2018
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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.
See Examples For:
The collaboration includes researchers from the University of Ottawa in Canada, the Universities of Stirling, Lancaster and Leeds in the UK, and the Canadian Ice Service of Environment and Climate Change Canada.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
Sure, celebrities often partner with fast-food restaurants to release collaboration meal deals, but Cane’s A-listers also seem to evangelize the brand itself.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
Chipotle has undergone a similar shift, now offering a “high protein menu,” with some bowls made in collaboration with major athletes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
Today’s newsletter was curated and edited by Morgan Smith and Lyle Brennan in collaboration with Editor in Chief Emma Tucker.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
And I was now also focused on getting a new effort called Joining Forces off the ground—this one in collaboration with Jill Biden, whose son Beau had recently returned safely from his deployment in Iraq.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Parton also became known for memorable collaborations, notably with Kenny Rogers, whose duet Islands in the Stream became one of the defining hits of the 1980s.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Taking a page from celebrity influencers’ playbook, non-social-media-famous brides like McGowan are saying “I do” to paid brand collaborations in order to monetize their big day, as well as the events leading up to it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Similar mash-ups and shoe collaborations have come and gone.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
There have been collaborations wherever Dudamel could find them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Gardens are fashioned for many purposes with many different tools, but all are collaborations with natural forces.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
