Standard Lemma guide

collaboration

noun · 5 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.

  • Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /kəˌlæbəˈɹeɪʃən/
  • Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: [khəˌlæbəˈɹeɪ̯ʃən]
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Texas: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian: /kəˌlæbəˈɹæɪʃən/
  • Australian: [khəˌlæbəˈɹæɪ̯ʃən]
  • New-Zealand: /kəˌlɛbəˈɹæɪʃən/
  • New-Zealand: [khəˌlɛbəˈɹæɪ̯ʃən]
  • rhymes with -eɪʃən
  • CMU ARPABET: K AH0 L AE2 B ER0 EY1 SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The act of collaborating.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • Collaboration can be a useful part of the creative process.
  • During the interwar period, fascists proposed class collaboration as a response to communist class struggle.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A production or creation made by collaborating.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Examples

  • The husband-and-wife artists will release their new collaboration in June this year.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Treasonous cooperation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • He has been charged with collaboration.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

act of working jointly

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • they worked either in collaboration or independently

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: coaction

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: cooperation

5

noun

Meaning 5

act of cooperating traitorously with an enemy that is occupying your country

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: collaborationism, quislingism

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: cooperation

History

Etymology

Originated 1855–60 from French collaboration, from Late Latin collaboratus + -ion, from Latin con- (“with”) + labōrō (“work”). Morphologically collaborate + -ion.

Across languages

Translations

112 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: samewerking — act of collaborating
  • Albanian: bashkëpunim — act of collaborating
  • Armenian: գործակցություն (gorcakcʻutʻyun) — act of collaborating
  • Armenian: համագործակցություն (hamagorcakcʻutʻyun) — act of collaborating
  • Azerbaijani: əməkdaşlıq — act of collaborating
  • Belarusian: супрацо́ўніцтва (supracównictva) — act of collaborating
  • Breton: kenlabour — act of collaborating
  • Bulgarian: сътру́дничество (sǎtrúdničestvo) — act of collaborating
  • Catalan: col·laboració — act of collaborating
  • Chinese Mandarin: 合作 (hézuò) — act of collaborating
  • Chinese Mandarin: 協作 /协作 (xiézuò) — act of collaborating
  • Czech: spolupráce — act of collaborating
  • Dutch: samenwerking — act of collaborating
  • Dutch: het samenwerken — act of collaborating
  • Esperanto: kunlaboraĵo — act of collaborating
  • Esperanto: kunlaborado — act of collaborating
  • Esperanto: kunlaboro — act of collaborating
  • Finnish: yhteistyö — act of collaborating
  • Finnish: myötävaikuttaminen — act of collaborating
  • Finnish: myötävaikutus — act of collaborating
  • Finnish: kollaboraatio — act of collaborating
  • French: collaboration — act of collaborating
  • Galician: colaboración — act of collaborating
  • German: Kollektivarbeit — act of collaborating
  • German: Zusammenarbeit — act of collaborating
  • German: Kollaboration — act of collaborating
  • Greek: συνεργασία (synergasía) — act of collaborating
  • Hebrew: שיתוף פעולה (shituf pe'ula) — act of collaborating
  • Hungarian: együttműködés — act of collaborating
  • Indonesian: kerja sama — act of collaborating
  • Indonesian: kolaborasi — act of collaborating
  • Italian: collaborazione — act of collaborating
  • Japanese: コラボレーション (koraborēshon) — act of collaborating
  • Japanese: コラボ (korabo) — act of collaborating
  • Japanese: 協調 — act of collaborating
  • Japanese: 協力 (kyōryoku) — act of collaborating
  • Japanese: 共働 (kyōdō) — act of collaborating
  • Japanese: 合作 (gassaku) — act of collaborating
  • Khmer: សហការ (saʼhaʼkaa) — act of collaborating
  • Korean: 콜라보레이션 (kollaboreisyeon) — act of collaborating
  • Korean: 콜라보 (kollabo) — act of collaborating
  • Korean: 협업 (hyeobeop) — act of collaborating
  • Korean: 협력 (hyeomnyeok) — act of collaborating
  • Korean: 합작 (hapjak) — act of collaborating
  • Latin: collabōrātiō — act of collaborating
  • Malay: kerjasama — act of collaborating
  • Norwegian: samarbeid — act of collaborating
  • Occitan: collaboracion — act of collaborating
  • Old English: efnwyrċing — act of collaborating
  • Polish: współpraca — act of collaborating
  • Portuguese: colaboração — act of collaborating
  • Romanian: colaborare — act of collaborating
  • Romanian: colaborări — act of collaborating
  • Russian: сотру́дничество (sotrúdničestvo) — act of collaborating
  • Russian: коопера́ция (kooperácija) — act of collaborating
  • Russian: совме́стная рабо́та (sovméstnaja rabóta) — act of collaborating
  • Spanish: colaboración — act of collaborating
  • Swahili: kolabo — act of collaborating
  • Swedish: samarbete — act of collaborating
  • Turkish: imece — act of collaborating
  • Turkish: iş birliği — act of collaborating
  • Turkish: emektaşlık — act of collaborating
  • Ukrainian: співробі́тництво (spivrobítnyctvo) — act of collaborating
  • Ukrainian: співпра́ця (spivprácja) — act of collaborating
  • Chinese Mandarin: 合作 (hézuò) — joint production or creation
  • Chinese Mandarin: 協作 /协作 (xiézuò) — joint production or creation
  • Finnish: yhteistuotanto — joint production or creation
  • Galician: colaboración — joint production or creation
  • Greek: συνεργασία (synergasía) — joint production or creation
  • Italian: collaborazione — joint production or creation
  • Japanese: コラボレーション (koraborēshon) — joint production or creation
  • Japanese: コラボ (korabo) — joint production or creation
  • Japanese: 合作 (gassaku) — joint production or creation
  • Japanese: 共作 (kyōsaku) — joint production or creation
  • Korean: 콜라보레이션 (kollaboreisyeon) — joint production or creation
  • Korean: 콜라보 (kollabo) — joint production or creation
  • Korean: 합작 (hapjak) — joint production or creation
  • Māori: ngātahitanga — joint production or creation
  • Russian: совме́стная рабо́та (sovméstnaja rabóta) — joint production or creation
  • Russian: сотру́дничество (sotrúdničestvo) — joint production or creation
  • Swahili: kolabo — joint production or creation
  • Armenian: կոլլաբորացիոնիզմ (kollaboracʻionizm) — treasonous cooperation
  • Azerbaijani: kollaborasionizm — treasonous cooperation
  • Belarusian: супрацо́ўніцтва (supracównictva) — treasonous cooperation
  • Belarusian: калабарацыяні́зм (kalabaracyjanízm) — treasonous cooperation
  • Chinese Mandarin: 勾結 /勾结 (gōujié) — treasonous cooperation
  • Chinese Mandarin: 通敵 /通敌 (tōngdí) — treasonous cooperation
  • Czech: kolaborace — treasonous cooperation
  • Danish: kollaboration — treasonous cooperation
  • Dutch: collaboratie — treasonous cooperation
  • Finnish: yhteistoiminta — treasonous cooperation
  • Finnish: yhteistyö (vihollisen kanssa - with the enemy) — treasonous cooperation
  • French: collaboration — treasonous cooperation
  • German: Kollaboration — treasonous cooperation
  • German: Zusammenarbeit — treasonous cooperation
  • Hungarian: kollaborálás — treasonous cooperation
  • Japanese: 裏切り (uragiri) — treasonous cooperation
  • Japanese: 利敵協力 (riteki kyōryoku) — treasonous cooperation
  • Malay: persekongkolan — treasonous cooperation
  • Malay: ڤرسکوڠکولن (persekungkulan) — treasonous cooperation
  • Malay: persubahatan — treasonous cooperation
  • Malay: kolaborasi — treasonous cooperation
  • Polish: kolaboracja — treasonous cooperation
  • Portuguese: conspiração — treasonous cooperation
  • Portuguese: formação de quadrilha — treasonous cooperation
  • Russian: сотру́дничество (sotrúdničestvo) — treasonous cooperation
  • Russian: коллаборациони́зм (kollaboracionízm) — treasonous cooperation
  • Swedish: kollaboration — treasonous cooperation
  • Ukrainian: співпра́ця (spivprácja) — treasonous cooperation
  • Ukrainian: колабораціоні́зм (kolaboracionízm) — treasonous cooperation
  • Ukrainian: колабора́ція (kolaborácija) — treasonous cooperation
  • Ukrainian: колабора́нтство (kolaborántstvo) — treasonous cooperation
Real reading context

collaboration in complete knowledge articles