Etymologically
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cooperate

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 21:34. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /kəʊˈɒp.ə.ɹeɪt/, /kuˈɒp.ə.ɹeɪt/[1]
  • US: /koʊˈɑ.pəˌɹeɪt/, /kuˈɑ.pəˌɹeɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cooperātus, the past participle of cooperor (“to work together”),[2][3][4][5] made of co-, a form of com- (“with, together”), and operor (“to work”),[3][4][6] from opus (“work”);[6] Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *op- (“to work, produce in abundance”).[3] The OED treats the verb as classical Latin, the AHD, Etymonline and Collins as Late Latin, and the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English as ecclesiastical Latin.[2][6][3][7][8][9] Barnhart thinks the word probably came in under the influence of French coopérer, and that it may also be a back-formation from cooperation, recorded from 1495; a present participle cooperante is found before 1425, in a translation of Higden's Polychronicon.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of things, to work together with something else to produce an effect: 1582, in the Rheims translation of Romans 8:28.[2] Of people, to work with others towards the same end, from 1583.[2] Merriam-Webster also dates the verb to 1582, Barnhart to 1604 and Etymonline to about 1600.[5][4][3]

Semantic evolution

The religious context of the first quotation suits the Shorter Oxford's view of the source as ecclesiastical Latin.[2][8] Johnson (1755) defined the verb as "to labour jointly with another to the same end", quoting Bacon and Boyle.[10] An economic sense, to practise economic cooperation or belong to a cooperative organization, is recorded from 1830, in the Westminster Review;[2] Weekley says the noun cooperation in its economic sense was apparently introduced by Robert Owen in 1817.[11] The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins dates cooperative to the early 17th century, its use for a cooperative society to the early 20th century, and the shortening co-op to 1871.[12] A rare 19th-century adjective cooperate, "brought into cooperation", was formed from cooperation on the model of corporation, corporate.[8][5]

Timeline

  • before 1425 – present participle cooperante.[4]
  • 1582 – of things, to work together to produce an effect.[2][5]
  • 1583 – of people, to work together towards the same end.[2]
  • 1604 – Barnhart's first date.[4]
  • 1830 – to practise economic cooperation.[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To work or act together with others towards a common purpose; to collaborate.
  2. To be willing to help or to do what is asked: The tenant refused to cooperate with the inspectors.
  3. Of things, to combine to produce an effect: Fog and darkness cooperated to delay the rescue.
  4. (economics) To take part in economic cooperation, or to form or belong to a cooperative.

Word family

  • cooperator
  • uncooperating

Usage notes

The word is also spelt co-operate, especially in British English.[7][3]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  12. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press