negotiation
Americannoun
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negotiations
plural
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mutual discussion and arrangement of the terms of a transaction or agreement.
the negotiation of a treaty.
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the act or process of negotiating.
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an instance or the result of negotiating.
noun
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a discussion set up or intended to produce a settlement or agreement
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the act or process of negotiating
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of negotiation
1570–80; < Latin negōtiātiōn- (stem of negōtiātiō ) a doing of business, equivalent to negōtiāt ( us ) ( see negotiate) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
A negotiation is a business-oriented conversation where two sides argue, discuss, and compromise to reach some agreement. When you hear the word negotiation, you know there are two sides and they're willing to talk to each other. In sports, the owners and the players union go through a negotiation to get a new contract. Parents and kids might have a negotiation over curfew time. Negotiation implies that both sides are willing to give something up and compromise. If your side won't give an inch, then you're not ready for negotiation.
Vocabulary lists containing negotiation
Franklin D. Roosevelt, "A Date That Will Live In Infamy" (1941)
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"Marriage is a Private Affair" by Chinua Achebe
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "N"
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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:
Which ever way things break, everyone knows that the playoffs are merely prologue to something else: baseball’s toughest labor negotiation in a generation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
The monitoring of and restricted access to devices instead should come through negotiation, even when you are dealing with someone who is very recalcitrant.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
She faced another personal negotiation on how forthcoming to be about undergoing IVF treatments.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Unlike recent COPs -- where nearly 200 nations forged landmark pacts on phasing down coal or moving away from fossil fuels -- the negotiation agenda at COP31 is light on big-ticket items.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
Two weeks before the scheduled July 1 start of the talks, the Russians suddenly had insisted that the agenda be broadened to encompass negotiation of the test ban itself.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
The CFP management committee, made up of 10 FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director, met Thursday to discuss the negotiations with ESPN, according to the Athletic and ESPN.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
Alan Watson has had a mast on his land for more than 20 years but says negotiations with telecoms has become a "nightmare"
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
Earlier this year, U.S. envoy Massad Boulos held negotiations in Madrid with the foreign ministers of Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and representatives of the Polisario.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
The union accused BHP of breaking off negotiations after making a "poor offer" to employees.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
The United States and Oman had just completed negotiations on a free-trade agreement to eliminate tariffs and trade barriers between the two nations.
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
