Negotiate

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /nəˈɡəʊ.ʃi.eɪt/

Definitions

1. To discuss terms with another party in order to reach a mutual agreement or settle a dispute
2. To engage in discussion with others in order to establish terms that lead to a consensus or resolution of differing views
3. To hold conversations aimed at finding common ground or resolving disagreements through agreed-upon conditions

Etymology: The most striking thing about "negotiate" is that it is built on a negation: its Latin ancestor, "negotium", literally meant "not-leisure". Roman business was defined by what it was not. "Otium" meant leisure, ease or inactivity, and adding the prefix "nec" (not) produced "negotium", the word for busy work, trade and affairs. The verb "negotiari" meant to carry on business or trade, and the English word arrived in the late 1500s, around 1598, as a borrowing of its past participle form. The original sense stayed close to commerce. To negotiate was to deal in goods, to do trade, and the idea of talking terms toward an agreement grew naturally out of bargaining in the marketplace. Haggling over prices is, after all, a kind of discussion aimed at a deal, and that is the thread linking the Roman merchant to the modern diplomat or the person sorting out a contract.

Synonyms: bargain, discuss, confer, arrange, settle

Antonyms: refuse, reject, disagree, dismiss, ignore