Standard Lemma guide

negotiation

noun · 3 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: /nɪˌɡəʊ.ʃiˈeɪ.ʃən/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /nɪˌɡəʊ.siˈeɪ.ʃən/
  • Canada, General-American: /nɪˌɡoʊ.ʃiˈeɪ.ʃən/
  • Canada, General-American: /nəˌɡoʊ.ʃiˈeɪ.ʃən/
  • Canada, General-American: /nɪˌɡoʊ.siˈeɪ.ʃən/
  • Canada, General-American: /nəˌɡoʊ.siˈeɪ.ʃən/
  • California, Southern: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • New-Jersey: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪʃən
  • CMU ARPABET: N IH0 G OW2 SH IY0 EY1 SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The process of achieving agreement through discussion.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • The specifics of the contract are still under negotiation.
  • The two parties entered into negotiations about the merger.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the activity or business of negotiating an agreement; coming to terms

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: activity

3

noun

Meaning 3

a discussion intended to produce an agreement

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the buyout negotiation lasted several days
  • they disagreed but kept an open dialogue
  • talks between Israelis and Palestinians

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dialogue, talks

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: discussion, give-and-take, word

Narrower terms: parley, diplomacy, diplomatic negotiations, bargaining, collective bargaining, horse trading, mediation

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French négociation, or from Latin negotiatio (“the carrying on of business, a wholesale business”), from negotiari (“to carry on business”). By surface analysis, negotiate + -ion.

Across languages

Translations

113 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: negocim — process of achieving agreement
  • Amharic: ድርድር (dərdər) — process of achieving agreement
  • Arabic: مُفَاوَضَات (mufāwaḍāt) — process of achieving agreement
  • Arabic: مُذَاكَرَات (muḏākarāt) — process of achieving agreement
  • Arabic: تَفَاوُض (tafāwuḍ) — process of achieving agreement
  • Arabic: مُبَاحَثَات (mubāḥaṯāt) — process of achieving agreement
  • Armenian: բանակցություն (banakcʻutʻyun) — process of achieving agreement
  • Azerbaijani: danışıq — process of achieving agreement
  • Azerbaijani: danışıqlar — process of achieving agreement
  • Belarusian: перагаво́ры (pjerahavóry) — process of achieving agreement
  • Belarusian: перамо́вы (pjeramóvy) — process of achieving agreement
  • Bengali: আলোচনা (alōcona) — process of achieving agreement
  • Bulgarian: пре́говори (prégovori) — process of achieving agreement
  • Burmese: စေ့စပ်ရေး (ce.cap-re:) — process of achieving agreement
  • Burmese: ဆွေးနွေးပွဲ (hcwe:nwe:pwai:) — process of achieving agreement
  • Catalan: negociació — process of achieving agreement
  • Chinese Cantonese: 談判 /谈判 (taam4 pun3) — process of achieving agreement
  • Chinese Cantonese: 交涉 (gaau1 sip3) — process of achieving agreement
  • Chinese Mandarin: 談判 /谈判 (tánpàn) — process of achieving agreement
  • Chinese Mandarin: 交涉 (jiāoshè) — process of achieving agreement
  • Czech: vyjednávání — process of achieving agreement
  • Czech: negociace — process of achieving agreement
  • Danish: forhandling — process of achieving agreement
  • Dutch: onderhandeling — process of achieving agreement
  • Estonian: läbirääkimine — process of achieving agreement
  • Estonian: läbirääkimised — process of achieving agreement
  • Finnish: neuvottelu — process of achieving agreement
  • French: négociation — process of achieving agreement
  • Galician: negociación — process of achieving agreement
  • Georgian: მოლაპარაკება (molaṗaraḳeba) — process of achieving agreement
  • German: Verhandlung — process of achieving agreement
  • Greek: παζάρεμα (pazárema) — process of achieving agreement
  • Greek: διαπραγμάτευση (diapragmátefsi) — process of achieving agreement
  • Hebrew: מַשָּׂא וּמַתָּן (masá umatán) — process of achieving agreement
  • Hindi: बातचीत (bātcīt) — process of achieving agreement
  • Hindi: परक्रामण (parakrāmaṇ) — process of achieving agreement
  • Hindi: संधिवार्ता (sandhivārtā) — process of achieving agreement
  • Hungarian: tárgyalás — process of achieving agreement
  • Hungarian: egyeztetés — process of achieving agreement
  • Hungarian: egyezkedés — process of achieving agreement
  • Hungarian: megbeszélés — process of achieving agreement
  • Icelandic: viðræður — process of achieving agreement
  • Indonesian: negosiasi — process of achieving agreement
  • Indonesian: perundingan — process of achieving agreement
  • Italian: negoziato — process of achieving agreement
  • Italian: negoziazione — process of achieving agreement
  • Japanese: 交渉 (kōshō) — process of achieving agreement
  • Kazakh: келіссөз (kelıssöz) — process of achieving agreement
  • Kazakh: келіссөздер (kelıssözder) — process of achieving agreement
  • Khmer: ការចរចា (kaa cɑɑcaa) — process of achieving agreement
  • Korean: 교섭 (gyoseop) — process of achieving agreement
  • Korean: 협상 (hyeopsang) — process of achieving agreement
  • Northern Kurdish: mizakere — process of achieving agreement
  • Northern Kurdish: danûstandin — process of achieving agreement
  • Northern Kurdish: guftûgo — process of achieving agreement
  • Northern Kurdish: gotûbêj — process of achieving agreement
  • Northern Kurdish: nîqaş — process of achieving agreement
  • Northern Kurdish: dêwan — process of achieving agreement
  • Kyrgyz: сүйлөшүүлөр (süylöşüülör) — process of achieving agreement
  • Lao: ການເຈລະຈາ (kān chē la chā) — process of achieving agreement
  • Latvian: sarunas — process of achieving agreement
  • Lithuanian: derybos — process of achieving agreement
  • Macedonian: преговори (pregovori) — process of achieving agreement
  • Malay: rundingan — process of achieving agreement
  • Māori: matapakinga — process of achieving agreement
  • Mongolian: хэлэлцээр (xelelceer) — process of achieving agreement
  • Norwegian Bokmål: forhandling — process of achieving agreement
  • Occitan: negociacion — process of achieving agreement
  • Pashto: مذاکره (mozākera) — process of achieving agreement
  • Iranian Persian: مُذاکِرِه (mozâkere) — process of achieving agreement
  • Iranian Persian: مُذاکِرات (mozâkerât) — process of achieving agreement
  • Polish: negocjacja — process of achieving agreement
  • Polish: negocjacje — process of achieving agreement
  • Portuguese: negociação — process of achieving agreement
  • Romanian: negociere — process of achieving agreement
  • Russian: перегово́ры (peregovóry) — process of achieving agreement
  • Serbo-Croatian: пре̏гово̄ри — process of achieving agreement
  • Serbo-Croatian: прије̏гово̄ри — process of achieving agreement
  • Serbo-Croatian: prȅgovōri — process of achieving agreement
  • Serbo-Croatian: prijȅgovōri — process of achieving agreement
  • Slovak: vyjednávanie — process of achieving agreement
  • Slovak: rokovanie — process of achieving agreement
  • Slovene: pregovor — process of achieving agreement
  • Slovene: pogajanja — process of achieving agreement
  • Lower Sorbian: jadnanje — process of achieving agreement
  • Spanish: negociación — process of achieving agreement
  • Spanish: tratativa — process of achieving agreement
  • Swedish: förhandling — process of achieving agreement
  • Swedish: underhandling — process of achieving agreement
  • Tajik: музокира (muzokira) — process of achieving agreement
  • Tajik: музокирот (muzokirot) — process of achieving agreement
  • Tajik: гуфтугузор (guftuguzor) — process of achieving agreement
  • Tajik: гуфтушунид (guftušunid) — process of achieving agreement
  • Telugu: బేరం (bēraṁ) — process of achieving agreement
  • Thai: การต่อรอง (gaan-dtɔ̀ɔ-rɔɔng) — process of achieving agreement
  • Thai: การเจรจา (gaan-jee-rá-jaa) — process of achieving agreement
  • Turkish: müzakere — process of achieving agreement
  • Turkish: görüşme — process of achieving agreement
  • Ottoman Turkish: مذاكره (müzakere) — process of achieving agreement
  • Ukrainian: перегово́ри (perehovóry) — process of achieving agreement
  • Ukrainian: перемо́ви (peremóvy) — process of achieving agreement
  • Ukrainian: перемо́вини (peremóvyny) — process of achieving agreement
  • Urdu: مُذاکَرَہ (muzākara) — process of achieving agreement
  • Urdu: مُذاکَرات (muzākarāt) — process of achieving agreement
  • Urdu: بات چِیت (bāt cīt) — process of achieving agreement
  • Uyghur: سۆھبەت (söhbet) — process of achieving agreement
  • Uzbek: muzokara — process of achieving agreement
  • Uzbek: muzokaralar — process of achieving agreement
  • Vietnamese: sự đàm phán — process of achieving agreement
  • Walloon: negociåcion — process of achieving agreement
  • Walloon: bate di dvizes — process of achieving agreement
  • Welsh: trafodaeth — process of achieving agreement
  • Yiddish: פֿאַרהאַנדלונג (farhandlung) — process of achieving agreement
Real reading context

negotiation in complete knowledge articles