collaboration

American  

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

noun

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.

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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

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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

• collaborationist noun
• noncollaboration noun

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

In an essay published inside Meta last month, Bosworth said 2025 “feels like 100 years ago” as new ways of AI-enabled collaboration emerge.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

The CIA’s new acquisition framework to turbocharge collaboration with the private sector may be legal with proper oversight.

From Salon • Apr. 23, 2026

In collaboration with scientists at UC San Diego, Skowronska-Krawczyk has also begun studying how lipid metabolism affects aging in the immune system.

From Science Daily • Apr. 22, 2026

The raids came after a three-year investigation in collaboration with Police Scotland.

From BBC • Apr. 21, 2026

If the seams in the Adams-Jefferson collaboration were the source of its magic, the Jefferson-Madison alliance was seamless, and therefore less magical than smoothly and silently effective.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Related Words

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