"collective" in seven languages
Meaningcollective
Spanish
colectivo
/kolekˈtibo/
learned
In Argentina un colectivo is a city bus.
French
collectif
/kɔlɛktif/
learned
fem.: collective
Italian
collettivo
/kolletˈtivo/
learned
Portuguese
coletivo
/koleˈtʃivu/
learned
Romanian
colectiv
/kolekˈtiv/
learned
Catalan
col·lectiu
/kulləkˈtiw/
learned
English
collective
/kəˈlɛktɪv/
from Latin/French · French collectif, Latin COLLĒCTĪVUM
English → ItaliancollectivecollettivoCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
COLLĒCTĪVUM‘gathered together (COLLIGERE)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Italian assimilates ct to tt even in learned words (collettivo); Spanish keeps the c but simplifies ll to l. French collectif follows the -if/-ive pattern of English.
English relatives: collect, collection, collector
Learn it
In a sentence
- esFue una decisión colectiva.
- frC'était une décision collective.
- itÈ stata una decisione collettiva.
- ptFoi uma decisão coletiva.
- roA fost o decizie colectivă.
- caVa ser una decisió col·lectiva.
- enIt was a collective decision.