Standard Lemma guide

cofounder

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /kəʊˈfaʊndə/
  • General-American: kōʹfound'ər
  • General-American: kōʹfound-ər
  • General-American: kō'foundʹər
  • General-American: /ˈkoʊ(ˌ)faʊndɚ/
  • General-American: /ˌkoʊˈfaʊndɚ/
  • rhymes with -aʊndə(ɹ)
  • CMU ARPABET: K OW1 F AW1 N D ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A joint founder; one of several people involved with the creation of a business, organization, union, or entity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The two cofounders both attended the ceremony.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

one of a group of founders

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: founder, beginner, founding father, father

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin con- Latin co-der. English co- English founder English cofounder From co- + founder.

Across languages

Translations

26 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: համահիմնադիր (hamahimnadir) — one who founds something with someone else
  • Catalan: cofundador — one who founds something with someone else
  • Chinese Mandarin: 共同創辦人 /共同创办人 (gòngtóngchuàngbànrén) — one who founds something with someone else
  • Dutch: mede-oprichter — one who founds something with someone else
  • Esperanto: kunfondinto — one who founds something with someone else
  • French: cofondateur — one who founds something with someone else
  • French: cofondatrice — one who founds something with someone else
  • German: Mitgründer — one who founds something with someone else
  • German: Mitgründerin — one who founds something with someone else
  • Hungarian: társalapító — one who founds something with someone else
  • Irish: comhbhunaitheoir — one who founds something with someone else
  • Italian: cofondatore — one who founds something with someone else
  • Italian: cofondatrice — one who founds something with someone else
  • Luxembourgish: Matgrënner — one who founds something with someone else
  • Polish: współzałożyciel — one who founds something with someone else
  • Polish: współzałożycielka — one who founds something with someone else
  • Russian: сооснова́тель (soosnovátelʹ) — one who founds something with someone else
  • Russian: сооснова́тельница (soosnovátelʹnica) — one who founds something with someone else
  • Russian: соучреди́тель (součredítelʹ) — one who founds something with someone else
  • Russian: соучреди́тельница (součredítelʹnica) — one who founds something with someone else
  • Spanish: cofundador — one who founds something with someone else
  • Spanish: cofundadora — one who founds something with someone else
  • Swahili: mwanzilishi mwenza — one who founds something with someone else
  • Swedish: medgrundare — one who founds something with someone else
  • Ukrainian: співзасно́вник (spivzasnóvnyk) — one who founds something with someone else
  • Ukrainian: співзасно́вниця (spivzasnóvnycja) — one who founds something with someone else
Real reading context

cofounder in complete knowledge articles