noun

collocation

kol-uh-KAY-shun

Collocation (noun) means a pair or group of words that habitually occur together and sound natural to native speakers, such as heavy rain or make a decision. Example: “Learners often produce grammatical sentences that break basic collocations, such as saying strong rain.”

noun

linguistics A pair or group of words that habitually occur together and sound natural to native speakers, such as heavy rain or make a decision.

"Learners often produce grammatical sentences that break basic collocations, such as saying strong rain."

"The dictionary lists common collocations under each headword."

formal The act of placing things side by side, or the arrangement that results.

"The collocation of the two portraits invites comparison."

How to Use Collocation

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishWords that native speakers naturally say together, like heavy traffic.

When to use it

Mainly a term in language teaching and linguistics; the countable sense listing individual pairings is the common one.

Memory tip

Collocation with two Ls is about words; colocation with one L is about housing servers in a shared data centre.

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Easily confused with

colocation idiom → compound noun collation

Common pairings

common collocations strong collocation collocation dictionary learn collocations collocation with

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Fill the Gap

Can you complete this real example?

Learners often produce grammatical sentences that break basic _____, such as saying strong rain.

Etymology

From Latin collocare meaning to place together, from com- with and locare to place.

Origin: Latin

Synonyms

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word partnership set phrase habitual pairing juxtaposition arrangement placement

Related Words

system order deal position contract agreement settlement format

Rhymes for collocation

region billion ablation allusion emulsion ideation novation abortion abrasion diffusion elocution extension

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a collocation and an idiom?

A collocation still means what its words mean; heavy rain is simply a lot of rain, it just happens to be the pairing English prefers. An idiom means something the words do not say, such as spill the beans. Collocations are about naturalness, idioms about hidden meaning.

Why do collocations matter for learners?

Because grammar alone does not make a sentence sound right. Saying make homework instead of do homework is perfectly clear but immediately marks the speaker as non-native, so collocations are learned as whole units.

Is collocation the same as colocation?

No. Colocation, spelled with one L, is a business term for renting space to place your equipment in someone else's facility. The two words are unrelated despite the similar look.

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