collaboration

American  

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

noun

• collaborations
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• collaborationist
  noun
• noncollaboration
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• collaborations
  plural

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

See Examples For:

collaboration collaborations

The imaginary collaboration also contains a historical wrinkle: Washington never actually lived in the White House.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

The ballerina collaboration, Reichert said, would be part of the company’s efforts to hold consumers’ attention with new shoes and sandals in the years ahead.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

Scientists with the Double Chooz collaboration have now measured this lingering antineutrino emission for the first time.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026

Described by the pair as the world’s first “R&B lo-fi tropical wave” album, “Helado Tropical” is a work of uninhibited collaboration.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

Adams was suggesting that the old collaboration of 1776 be recovered and revived.

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

Similar mash-ups and shoe collaborations have come and gone.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

Mash-ups and shoe collaborations have come and gone in the past.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

There have been collaborations wherever Dudamel could find them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Restaurants are trying to make their proliferating fashion collaborations more appealing for everyday wear.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

There are no good collaborations, whether in music, in art, in poetry, in mathematics, in philosophy.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Related Words

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