collective

The word “collective” means shared by, or done by, a group as a whole rather than by individuals separately. In plain terms, describes something done together as a group, or refers to the group itself.

“Collective” is pronounced kuh-LEHK-tihv (/kəˈlɛktɪv/ in IPA).

Here is “collective” used in a sentence: “The team made a collective decision to postpone the launch.”

Depending on how it is used, “collective” can be an adjective and a noun.

The word “collective” comes from Latin. From Latin collectivus, from colligere, "to gather together".

“Collective” is a fairly common word in modern English.

“Collective” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: shared by, or done by, a group as a whole rather than by individuals separately.

"Collective" describes something shared by or done by a group as a whole, while "individual" describes something belonging to or done by a single person. A collective decision is made by the group together; an individual decision is made by one person alone.

A collective is a group of people organized around a shared cause, business, or way of working, while a cooperative is a specific type of organization owned and democratically run by its members. Cooperatives are collectives in spirit, but "cooperative" usually implies a formal legal and financial structure.

A collective noun is a word that names a group of people, animals, or things as a single unit, such as "team," "flock," or "committee." It reflects the adjective's meaning of a group treated as a whole rather than as separate individuals.

As a noun meaning a group, "collective" is grammatically singular, so you say "the collective is meeting," though British English sometimes treats such group nouns as plural, as in "the collective are meeting." As an adjective it does not change form.