negotiate

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /nɪˈɡəʊ.ʃi.eɪt/, US /nɪˈɡoʊ.ʃi.eɪt/^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin negōtiātus, past participle of negōtiārī, to carry on business,^[2][3][4] or probably a back-formation from negotiation (1425),^[5][2] from negōtium, business,^[5][2] from neg-, not, and ōtium, leisure (see otiose),^[5][4][6] the same image as English business.^[6] Barnhart suggests negōtium may be a loan translation of Ancient Greek ἀσχολίᾱ (askholíā), occupation, business, from a-, not, and σχολή (skholḗ), leisure (see school).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To hold talks with others to reach an agreement: 1599, in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.^[5][7][3]

Semantic evolution

To do business or trade is from 1601, now obsolete,^[7] and to arrange or obtain by talks from the 1610s.^[2][7] To manage something needing skill is from 1619.^[7] Converting a bill into money, by transfer, is a 17th-century sense.^[4] To get over or past an obstacle (1862) began in the hunting field, of clearing a fence on horseback;^[2][4] Gowers remarked that fox hunters also like to hunt verbal novelties.^[2] Negotiable is from 1758.^[5]

Timeline

• 1425 – negotiation.^[5]
• 1599 – to hold talks.^[5][7]
• 1610s – to arrange by talks.^[2]
• 1758 – negotiable.^[5]
• 1862 – to get over an obstacle.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To discuss with others in order to reach an agreement.
2. To arrange or settle by discussion: to negotiate a treaty.
3. To get past or over an obstacle successfully: to negotiate a bend.
4. (finance) To transfer a bill or cheque to another in return for value.

Word family

• negotiator
• negotiatory
• unnegotiated
• negotiable
• negotiation
• renegotiate

Related words

• otiose
• business

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press