Cooperative

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A business or organization jointly owned and controlled by its members who share profits and decision-making equally
2. An entity formed by individuals who work together to achieve common goals while sharing resources, responsibilities, and benefits equally in a collaborative manner
3. A group or program that emphasizes teamwork and joint efforts where participants contribute to and benefit from shared success and decisions

Etymology: The adjective "cooperative" is built from two parts that have been working together since Latin. The prefix "co-" comes from the Latin "com" or "con", meaning "with" or "together", and it has been attached to words to mean shared action ever since. The second part, "operative", comes from "operari", Latin for "to work", which is the source of "operate" and "opera" in its older sense of labor. Put together, "cooperative" simply means "working together." The key idea is in the prefix. Joint ownership and shared profit are what the adjective now describes, but the word itself carries nothing more than the plain sense of people laboring side by side. The business meaning developed later as the concept took shape, and the word followed it into economic life.

Synonyms: collaborative, joint, mutual

Antonyms: uncooperative, selfish