Phrase guide

trade union

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

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  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An organization whose members belong to the same trade and that acts collectively to address common issues.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • , labour union (Canada), labor union (Canada, US)

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: union

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

an organization of employees formed to bargain with the employer

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • you have to join the union in order to get a job

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: union, labor union, trades union, brotherhood

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: organization, organisation

Narrower terms: industrial union, vertical union, craft union, company union, Industrial Workers of the World, IWW, I.W.W.

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

117 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: vakbond — organization
  • Afrikaans: unie — organization
  • Albanian: sindikatë — organization
  • Albanian: bashkim — organization
  • Albanian: bashkim profesional — organization
  • Arabic: نَقَابَة (naqāba) — organization
  • Arabic: نَقَابَة عُمَّال (naqābat ʕummāl) — organization
  • Arabic: اِتِّحَاد نَقَابَة عُمَّال (ittiḥād naqābat ʕummāl) — organization
  • Arabic: نَقَابَة عُمَّالِيَّة (naqāba ʕummāliyya) — organization
  • Arabic: نقابة (niqāba, naqāba) — organization
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܬܲܚܒܲܪܬܵܐ (taḥbartā) — organization
  • Armenian: արհեստակցական միություն (arhestakcʻakan miutʻyun) — organization
  • Armenian: արհմիություն (arhmiutʻyun) — organization
  • Azerbaijani: həmkarlar ittifaqı — organization
  • Basque: sindikatu — organization
  • Belarusian: прафсаю́з (prafsajúz) — organization
  • Belarusian: прафесі́йны саю́з (prafjesíjny sajúz) — organization
  • Bulgarian: професиона́лен съю́з (profesionálen sǎjúz) — organization
  • Bulgarian: профсъю́з (profsǎjúz) — organization
  • Burmese: ကုန်သွယ်ရေးသမဂ္ဂ (kunswaire:sa.magga.) — organization
  • Catalan: sindicat — organization
  • Chinese Cantonese: 工會 /工会 — organization
  • Chinese Cantonese: 職工會 /职工会 — organization
  • Chinese: гунхуэй (gunhuey) — organization
  • Chinese: 工會 /工会 (zh-min-nan) — organization
  • Chinese Mandarin: 工會 /工会 (gōnghuì) — organization
  • Chinese Mandarin: 職工會 /职工会 — organization
  • Wu Chinese: 工會 /工会 (1kon-we) — organization
  • Czech: odbory — organization
  • Danish: fagforening — organization
  • Dutch: vakbond — organization
  • Esperanto: sindikato — organization
  • Estonian: ametiühing — organization
  • Faroese: arbeiðsmannafelag — organization
  • Finnish: ammattiyhdistys — organization
  • Finnish: ammattiliitto — organization
  • French: syndicat — organization
  • French: syndicat de métier — organization
  • French: syndicat professionnel — organization
  • Georgian: პროფკავშირი (ṗropḳavširi) — organization
  • German: Gewerkschaft — organization
  • Greek: συνδικάτο (syndikáto) — organization
  • Hebrew: איגוד מקצועי — organization
  • Hebrew: אִגוּד מִקְצוֹעִי (igúd miktso'í) — organization
  • Hindi: श्रमिक संघ (śramik saṅgh) — organization
  • Hindi: ट्रेड यूनियन (ṭreḍ yūniyan) — organization
  • Hungarian: szakszervezet — organization
  • Icelandic: stéttarfélag — organization
  • Indonesian: serikat buruh — organization
  • Irish: ceardchumann — organization
  • Italian: sindacato — organization
  • Japanese: 労働組合 (rōdō kumiai) — organization
  • Japanese: 労組 — organization
  • Javanese: ꦥꦱꦮꦶꦗꦺꦤ꧀ ꦢꦒꦁ (pasawijén dagang) — organization
  • Kazakh: кәсіподақ (käsıpodaq) — organization
  • Kazakh: кәсіпшілер одағы (käsıpşıler odağy) — organization
  • Khmer: សហជីព (saʼhaʼciip) — organization
  • Korean: 노동조합 (nodongjohap) — organization
  • Korean: 로동조합 (rodongjohap) — organization
  • Korean: 노조 (nojo) — organization
  • Korean: 로조 (rojo) — organization
  • Northern Kurdish: sendîka — organization
  • Kyrgyz: профсоюз (profsoyuz) — organization
  • Lao: ກໍາມະບານ (kam ma bān) — organization
  • Lao: ສະຫະພາບແຮງງານ (sa ha phāp hǣng ngān) — organization
  • Latvian: arodbiedrība — organization
  • Lithuanian: profesinė sąjunga — organization
  • Lithuanian: profsąjunga — organization
  • Macedonian: синдика́т (sindikát) — organization
  • Malay: kesatuan sekerja — organization
  • Malayalam: തൊഴിലാളി സംഘടന (toḻilāḷi saṅghaṭana) — organization
  • Manx: sheshaght cheirdee — organization
  • Manx: keird-chummyn — organization
  • Manx: keird-heshaght — organization
  • Mongolian: үйлдвэрчний эвлэл (üjldverčnii evlel) — organization
  • Norwegian Bokmål: fagforening — organization
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: fagforeining — organization
  • Pannonian Rusyn: синдикат (sindikat) — organization
  • Pashto: اتحاديه (etehādiya) — organization
  • Pashto: سنديکا (sandikā) — organization
  • Iranian Persian: سِنْدیکا (sendikâ) — organization
  • Iranian Persian: اِتِّحادِیِهٔ صِنْفی (ettehâdiye-ye senfi) — organization
  • Iranian Persian: اِتِّحادِیِه (ettehâdiye) — organization
  • Iranian Persian: یونْیون (yunyon) — organization
  • Polish: związek zawodowy — organization
  • Portuguese: sindicato — organization
  • Romanian: sindicat comercial — organization
  • Romanian: sindicat — organization
  • Russian: профсою́з (profsojúz) — organization
  • Russian: профессиона́льный сою́з (professionálʹnyj sojúz) — organization
  • Russian: тред-юнио́н (trɛd-junión) — organization
  • Serbo-Croatian: синдѝка̄т — organization
  • Serbo-Croatian: sindìkāt — organization
  • Slovak: odbory — organization
  • Slovene: sindikat — organization
  • Spanish: sindicato — organization
  • Swedish: fackförening — organization
  • Swedish: fack — organization
  • Tagalog: unyon — organization
  • Tagalog: unyong manggagawa — organization
  • Tagalog: samahang manggagawa — organization
  • Tagalog: kaisahan — organization
  • Tajik: иттифоқи касаба (ittifoq-i kasaba) — organization
  • Thai: สหภาพแรงงาน (sà-hà-pâap-rɛɛng-ngaan) — organization
  • Turkish: sendika — organization
  • Turkmen: profsoýuz — organization
  • Ukrainian: профспі́лка (profspílka) — organization
  • Ukrainian: професі́йна спі́лка (profesíjna spílka) — organization
  • Urdu: اِتِّحادِ صَنْعَتی (ittihād-i san'atī) — organization
  • Urdu: ٹْریڈ یُونِیَن (ṭreḍ yūniyan) — organization
  • Uyghur: ئىشچىلار ئۇيۇشمىسى (ishchilar uyushmisi) — organization
  • Uzbek: profsoyuz — organization
  • Uzbek: kasaba soyuzi — organization
  • Vietnamese: công đoàn — organization
  • Yiddish: פֿאַרבאַנד (farband) — organization
  • Yiddish: פֿאַראיין (fareyn) — organization
  • Yiddish: יוניאָן (yunyon) — organization