Learn English – What’s the difference between “Collaborate” and “Cooperate”

differencesetymologymeaningverbs

Both of these words seem to mean much the same thing: working together to achieve some goal. I can instinctively feel a difference between them, but I can't easily put it into words.

Can you help me? Do these words come from different etymologies which might explain the difference?

Best Answer

Cooperating means working with someone in the sense of enabling: making them more able to do something (typically by providing information or resources they wouldn't otherwise have).

Collaborating means actually working alongside someone (from Latin laborare: to work) to achieve something.

The confusion comes from the overloaded meaning of "work with": In the "Work with me, people" sense, it means to go along with my idea - it's a passive condoning or suspension of disbelief rather than an active involvement. In the "I'm stuck, can you work with me on this problem?" sense it is a request for active commitment.

So in terms of helping achieve something, the ordering is something like collaboration, then cooperation, then passive indifference, then active obstruction.