Standard Lemma guide

cooperative

adj · noun · 9 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.

  • General-American: /kuˈɑp.ɹətɪv/
  • General-American: /kɔˈɑp.ɹətɪv/
  • General-American: /kɔˈap.ɹətɪv/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: K OW0 AA1 P ER0 EY2 T IH0 V Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Ready to work with another person or in a team; ready to cooperate.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The patient was rarely cooperative, and tended to refuse treatment.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Involving cooperation between individuals or parties.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • a cooperative game
  • a cooperative business enterprise

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Relating to a cooperative or cooperatives.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A type of company that is owned partially or wholly by its employees, customers or tenants.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective

Meaning 5

done with or working with others for a common purpose or benefit

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a cooperative effort

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: uncooperative

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

willing to adjust to differences in order to obtain agreement

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: accommodative

Antonyms: none provided

7

adjective satellite

Meaning 7

involving the joint activity of two or more

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • concerted action
  • the conjunct influence of fire and strong wind
  • the conjunctive focus of political opposition
  • a cooperative effort
  • a united effort
  • joint military activities

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: concerted, conjunct, conjunctive

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

a jointly owned commercial enterprise (usually organized by farmers or consumers) that produces and distributes goods and services and is run for the benefit of its owners

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: co-op

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: commercial enterprise

9

noun

Meaning 9

an association formed and operated for the benefit of those using it

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: association

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 operative English cooperative From co- + operative.

Across languages

Translations

86 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: съвме́стен (sǎvmésten) — ready to work with another
  • Catalan: cooperatiu — ready to work with another
  • Dutch: samenwerkend — ready to work with another
  • Finnish: yhteistyökykyinen — ready to work with another
  • Finnish: yhteistoiminnallinen — ready to work with another
  • Finnish: yhteistyöhaluinen — ready to work with another
  • French: coopératif — ready to work with another
  • Galician: cooperativo — ready to work with another
  • German: kooperativ — ready to work with another
  • Greek: συνεργάσιμος (synergásimos) — ready to work with another
  • Hebrew: שתופי (shitûfy) — ready to work with another
  • Hungarian: együttműködő — ready to work with another
  • Hungarian: segítőkész — ready to work with another
  • Hungarian: kooperatív — ready to work with another
  • Hungarian: kooperáló — ready to work with another
  • Italian: cooperativo — ready to work with another
  • Latin: cooperātivus — ready to work with another
  • Manx: co-obbragh — ready to work with another
  • Norwegian Bokmål: samarbeidsvillig — ready to work with another
  • Portuguese: cooperativo — ready to work with another
  • Portuguese: cooperante — ready to work with another
  • Russian: гото́вый к сотру́дничеству (gotóvyj k sotrúdničestvu) — ready to work with another
  • Russian: совме́стный (sovméstnyj) — ready to work with another
  • Russian: объединённый (obʺjedinjónnyj) — ready to work with another
  • Spanish: cooperativo — ready to work with another
  • Spanish: cooperador — ready to work with another
  • Spanish: cooperante — ready to work with another
  • Swedish: samarbetsvillig — ready to work with another
  • Tagalog: matutulungin — ready to work with another
  • Arabic: تَعَاوُنِيّ (taʕāwuniyy) — involving cooperation
  • Greek: συνεταιρικός (synetairikós) — involving cooperation
  • Greek: συνεταιριστικός (synetairistikós) — involving cooperation
  • Greek: συνεργατικός (synergatikós) — involving cooperation
  • Bulgarian: кооперати́вен (kooperatíven) — relating to a cooperative
  • Catalan: cooperatiu — relating to a cooperative
  • Finnish: osuustoiminnallinen — relating to a cooperative
  • Finnish: yhteistoiminnallinen — relating to a cooperative
  • Galician: cooperativo — relating to a cooperative
  • German: kooperativ — relating to a cooperative
  • German: genossenschaftlich — relating to a cooperative
  • Greek: συνεταιριστικός (synetairistikós) — relating to a cooperative
  • Hindi: सहकारी (sahkārī) — relating to a cooperative
  • Hungarian: szövetkezeti — relating to a cooperative
  • Kazakh: корпоративті (korporativtı) — relating to a cooperative
  • Kazakh: корпоративтік (korporativtık) — relating to a cooperative
  • Malayalam: സഹകരണ (sahakaraṇa) — relating to a cooperative
  • Manx: co-obbragh — relating to a cooperative
  • Portuguese: cooperativo — relating to a cooperative
  • Russian: кооперати́вный (kooperatívnyj) — relating to a cooperative
  • Swedish: kooperativ — relating to a cooperative
  • Armenian: կոոպերատիվ (kooperativ) — type of company
  • Bulgarian: коопера́ция (kooperácija) — type of company
  • Bulgarian: кооперати́в (kooperatív) — type of company
  • Catalan: cooperativa — type of company
  • Chinese Mandarin: 合作社 (hézuòshè) — type of company
  • Czech: družstvo — type of company
  • Dutch: coöperatieve vennootschap — type of company
  • Dutch: coöperatie — type of company
  • Esperanto: kooperativo — type of company
  • Finnish: osuuskunta — type of company
  • French: coopérative — type of company
  • German: Genossenschaft — type of company
  • German: Kooperative — type of company
  • Greek: συνεταιρισμός (synetairismós) — type of company
  • Hungarian: szövetkezet — type of company
  • Hungarian: termelőszövetkezet — type of company
  • Hungarian: téesz — type of company
  • Hungarian: tsz — type of company
  • Indonesian: koperasi — type of company
  • Ingrian: kooperativa — type of company
  • Italian: cooperativa — type of company
  • Manx: co-obbragh — type of company
  • Polish: spółdzielnia — type of company
  • Polish: kooperatywa — type of company
  • Portuguese: cooperativa — type of company
  • Romanian: cooperativă — type of company
  • Russian: кооперати́в (kooperatív) — type of company
  • Russian: това́рищество (továriščestvo) — type of company
  • Serbo-Croatian: кооперати́ва — type of company
  • Serbo-Croatian: kooperatíva — type of company
  • Spanish: cooperativa — type of company
  • Swedish: kooperativ — type of company
  • Tagalog: kooperatiba — type of company
  • Tagalog: tangkilikan — type of company
  • Thai: สหกรณ์ (sà-hà-gɔɔn) — type of company
  • Vietnamese: hợp tác xã — type of company
Real reading context

cooperative in complete knowledge articles