Collaborate

How to spell collaborate

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce collaborate

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does collaborate mean?

1. verbTo work jointly with one or more other people on a shared task or project.

Collaborate in a sentence

• The two departments agreed to collaborate on the annual budget report.

• Freelance designers often collaborate with writers to produce a finished brochure.

Where does collaborate come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin collaborare, which means 'to work together'. It is built from the prefix com- 'together' (which assimilates to col- before an l) and the verb laborare 'to work or toil', itself from the noun labor meaning 'labour, exertion, hardship'. English adopted it fairly late, in the mid 1800s, originally in the plain sense of working jointly on a shared project. During the Second World War it picked up a darker, narrower meaning: cooperating treacherously with an occupying enemy, which is why 'collaborator' can still carry a sinister ring. The same labor root sits openly inside 'labour', 'laboratory', and 'elaborate', and noticing that doubled l in col- is the key to avoiding the common misspelling.

How the word is built

• col- (com-, together)
• labor (work, toil)
• -ate (verb-forming suffix)