collective

English

Etymology

From Middle French collectif, from Latin collēctīvus, from collēctus, past participle of colligō (“I collect”), from com- (“together”) + legō (“I gather”). Compare French collectif. Doublet of colectivo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kəˈlɛktɪv/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

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• Hyphenation, US: col‧lec‧tive; UK: col‧lect‧ive
• Rhymes: -ɛktɪv

Adjective

collective (not comparable)

1. Formed by gathering or collecting; gathered into a mass, sum, or body.

   Synonyms: congregated, aggregated

   the collective body of a nation

2. Tending to collect; forming a collection.
   • 1743, [Edward Young], “Night the Fourth. The Christian Triumph.”, in The Complaint: Or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality, London: R Dodsley, , →OCLC, page 18:

     Local is his throne […] to fix a point, / A central point, collective of his sons.

3. Having plurality of origin or authority.
4. (grammar) Expressing a collection or aggregate of individuals, by a singular form.
5. (obsolete) Deducing consequences; reasoning; inferring.
   • 1642, Tho[mas] Browne, “(please specify the page)”, in Religio Medici. , 4th edition, London: E. Cotes for Andrew Crook , published 1656, →OCLC:

     critical and collective reason

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

collective (plural collectives)

1. A farm owned by a collection of people.
2. (especially in communist countries) One of more farms managed and owned, through the state, by the community.
3. (grammar) A collective noun or name.
4. (by extension) A group dedicated to a particular cause or interest.
   • 2005, Zoya Kocur, Simon Leung, Theory in contemporary art since 1985, page 76:

     There are, however, a number of contemporary artists and art collectives that have defined their practice precisely around the facilitation of dialogue among diverse communities.

   • 2006 March 5, Holland Cotter, “The Collective Conscious”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     Critical Art Ensemble is one of many art collectives operating on the principle that information is power and that it is most effectively made available through a combination of science and aesthetics.

   • 2021 October 13, Adam Bradley, “The Creative Collectives Finding Strength in Numbers”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     Today’s collectives create together, tour together, exhibit together, live together, survive together, eat together, sleep together, march together, fight together and party together, too.

5. The flight control used to control a helicopter's ascent or descent.
   • 2012, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Helicopter Flying Handbook: FAA-H-8083-21A, Ravenio Books:

     A pilot normally holds the collective stationary until the helicopter stops; however, to get more braking action, lower the collective slightly. Keep in mind that, due to the increased ground friction when the collective is lowered or […]

   • 2021 July 27, Federal Aviation Administration, Helicopter Flying Handbook: FAA-H-8083-21B, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

     Hover height, rate of ascent, and the rate of descent are controlled by using the collective. Helicopter position and the direction of travel are controlled by the cyclic.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• Category:English collective nouns

References

• “collective”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “collective”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “collective”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Further reading

• "collective" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 69.

French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

collective

1. feminine singular of collectif

   Après une belle action collective, l’équipe a enfin marqué un but.

   After some good teamwork, the team finally scored a goal.

Latin

Adjective

collēctīve

1. vocative masculine singular of collēctīvus