English

Alternative forms

• co-operate (UK), coöperate (uncommon)

Verb

cooperate ‎(third-person singular simple present cooperates, present participle cooperating, simple past and past participle cooperated)

1. (intransitive) To work or act together, especially for a common purpose or benefit.
   • 2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times:

     In polling by the Pew Research Center in November 2008, fully half the respondents thought the two parties would cooperate more in the coming year, versus only 36 percent who thought the climate would grow more adversarial.

2. (intransitive) To allow for mutual unobstructed action
3. (intransitive) To function in harmony, side by side
4. (intransitive) To engage in economic cooperation.

Usage notes

The usual pronunciation of 'oo' is /uː/ or /ʊ/. The dieresis in the spelling coöperate emphasizes that the second o begins a separate syllable. However, the dieresis is becoming increasingly rare in US English typography, so the spelling cooperate predominates. See also Appendix:Dieresis.

Synonyms

• to coact
• co-op
• make common cause

Related terms

• cooperative
• cooperation
• cooperator

Translations

References

• “cooperate” in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.
• “cooperate” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
• "cooperate" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.

Italian

Verb

cooperate

1. second-person plural present indicative of cooperare
2. second-person plural imperative of cooperare
3. feminine plural of cooperato

Latin

Participle

cooperāte

1. vocative masculine singular of cooperātus