Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Negotiate
Ne-go′ti-ate
,Verb.
I.
1.
To transact business; to carry on trade.
[Obs.]
Hammond.
2.
To treat with another respecting purchase and sale or some business affair; to bargain or trade;
as, to
. negotiate
with a man for the purchase of goods or a farm3.
To hold intercourse respecting a treaty, league, convention, or other proposed agreement; to treat with, respecting peace or commerce; to conduct communications or conferences.
He that
Is God’s ambassador.
negotiates
between God and manIs God’s ambassador.
Cowper.
4.
To intrigue; to scheme.
[Obs.]
Bacon.
Ne-go′ti-ate
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Negotiated
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Negotiating
.] 1.
To carry on negotiations concerning; to procure or arrange for by negotiation;
as, to
. negotiate
peace, or an exchangeConstantinople had
negotiated
in the isles of the Archipelago . . . the most indispensable supplies. Gibbon.
2.
To transfer for a valuable consideration under rules of commercial law; to sell; to pass.
The notes were not
negotiated
to them in the usual course of business or trade. Kent.
Webster 1828 Edition
Negotiate
NEGOTIATE
,Verb.
I.
1.
To transact business; to treat with another respecting purchase and sale; to hold intercourse in bargaining or trade, either in person or by a broker or substitute; as, to negotiate with a man for the purchase of goods or a farm.2.
To hold intercourse with another respecting a treaty, league or convention; to treat with respecting peace or commerce. It is a crime for an embassador to betray his prince for whom he should negotiate.
NEGOTIATE
,Verb.
T.
1.
To procure by mutual intercourse and agreement with another; as, to negotiate a loan of money. Ship brokers and interpreters negotiate affreightments.
2.
To procure, make or establish by mutual intercourse and agreement with others. Mr. Jay negotiated a treaty with the British ministry in 1794.3.
To sell; to pass; to transfer for a valuable consideration; as, to negotiate a bill of exchange. The notes were not negotiated to them in the usual course of business or trade.
Definition 2024
negotiate
negotiate
English
Verb
negotiate (third-person singular simple present negotiates, present participle negotiating, simple past and past participle negotiated)
- (intransitive) To confer with others in order to come to terms or reach an agreement.
- 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr., to the eight fellow clergymen who opposed the civil rights action, "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Why We Can't Wait
- "You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue."
- 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr., to the eight fellow clergymen who opposed the civil rights action, "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Why We Can't Wait
- (transitive) To arrange or settle something by mutual agreement.
- 2013 July 19, Timothy Garton Ash, “Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 18:
- Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail, a new great game is under way across the globe. […] The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements.
- We negotiated the contract to everyone's satisfaction.
-
- (transitive) To succeed in coping with, or getting over something.
- 2012 June 29, Kevin Mitchell, “Roger Federer back from Wimbledon 2012 brink to beat Julien Benneteau”, in the Guardian:
- Novak Djokovic earlier had negotiated his own tricky passage through the fifth day.
- We negotiated the mountain track with difficulty.
- Although the car was quite rickety, he could negotiate the curves very well.
-
- (obsolete) To transact business; to carry on trade.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Hammond to this entry?)
- (obsolete) To intrigue; to scheme.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)
Derived terms
Translations
confer to reach an agreement (intransitive)
|
arrange a mutual agreement (transitive)
|
|
coping with, getting over
|
External links
- negotiate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- negotiate in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911