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:
Watson said he had been left with "no negotiation" about how much rent was paid to him for his land, and warned landowners tempted to host masts not to "touch it with a barge pole".
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 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
In his speech, Leo urged "courage in negotiation" and compromise to put an end to war on the continent, in an apparent reference to Russia's war against Ukraine, now in its fifth year.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
The private talk would actually be more a negotiation, Janice told me the week before, about what everyone would be saying before the cameras.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
"We must honestly admit that collectively, we are not yet on track as needed," Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Friday ahead of the formal UN negotiations known as COP17.
From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026
Nearly 200 nations are gathering in Armenia on Monday for critical negotiations as governments come under pressure to salvage a landmark nature pact whose goals are slipping out of reach.
From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026
Sir Olly, who was appointed to the Foreign Office job in early 2025, has held a number of senior civil service roles and was previously the government's lead official during Brexit negotiations with the EU.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
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
The negotiations went back and forth, but Fischer’s current demands were minor compared to the 132 conditions he’d stipulated in 1975 in order for him to play Karpov.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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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.
