Definition of negotiate
negotiated
;negotiating
intransitive verb
: to confer with another so as to arrive at the settlement of some matter Teachers are negotiating for higher salaries.
transitive verb
1a : to deal with (some matter or affair that requires ability for its successful handling) : manage negotiated his business deals with remarkable skillb : to arrange for or bring about through conference, discussion, and compromise negotiate a treaty
2a : to transfer (something, such as a bill of exchange) to another by delivery or endorsement (see endorse 1d)b : to convert into cash or the equivalent value negotiate a check
3a : to successfully travel along or over negotiate a turnb : complete, accomplish negotiate the trip in two hours
People Are Reading
negotiate was our Word of the Day on 07/06/2016. Hear the podcast!
Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
Examples of negotiate in a Sentence
The customer wanted to negotiate over the price.
She has good negotiating skills.
We negotiated a fair price.
The driver carefully negotiated the winding road.
Recent Examples of negotiate from the Web
-
The second round started this week between negotiating teams led for the EU by Michel Barnier, the European Commission’s point man, and for Britain by David Davis, the Brexit secretary.
-
Complicating matters for the bank are personal guarantees Trump gave when negotiating debt from 2012 to 2015, which allow the lender to go after Trump’s other assets in a default, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg in March.
-
In the plan Sanders is proposing, Medicare would be expanded to include all Americans, which would reduce administrative costs and allow the government to negotiate prices with both hospitals and drug companies to better reduce costs.
-
Brown and legislative leaders also successfully negotiated two companion bills that helped secure the two-thirds majority necessary to extend cap and trade.
-
Rebellion by either side could derail the legislation and test May's ability to negotiate a compromise or find support from opposition parties.
-
Randy Edsall's son will coach tight ends for his father for one football season at UConn, despite new findings by the state's ethics office that the arrangement violates bans against nepotism and a father helping to negotiate a contract for his son.
-
What isn't stated in the NMA news release is exactly what the Alliance wants to negotiate about.
-
Unlike during the fall of Aleppo to the Assad regime earlier this year, no one has negotiated safe passage in the final stages of battle.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'negotiate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The Controversial History of negotiate
For the first 250 years of its life, negotiate had meanings that hewed pretty closely to its Latin root, negotiari, meaning "to carry on business." Around the middle of the 19th century, though, it developed the meaning "to successfully travel along or over." Although this sense was criticized in the New York Sun in 1906 as a "barbarism creeping into the language," and Henry Fowler's 1926 A Dictionary of Modern English Usage declared that any writer who used it was "literally a barbarian," it has thrived and is now fully established.
Origin and Etymology of negotiate
Latin negotiatus, past participle of negotiari to carry on business, from negotium business, from neg- not + otium leisure — more at negate
NEGOTIATE Defined for English Language Learners
negotiate
playDefinition of negotiate for English Language Learners
-
: to discuss something formally in order to make an agreement
-
: to agree on (something) by formally discussing it
-
: to get over, through, or around (something) successfully
NEGOTIATE Defined for Kids
negotiate
playDefinition of negotiate for Students
negotiated
;negotiating
1 : to have a discussion with another in order to settle something We are willing to negotiate with the enemy for peace.
2 : to arrange for by discussing I'm trying to negotiate a loan.
3 : to be successful in getting around, through, or over Keep your hands on the steering wheel to negotiate a turn.
negotiator
\-ˌā-tər\ nounLaw Dictionary
negotiate
playLegal Definition of negotiate
negotiated
negotiating
intransitive verb
: to confer with another so as to settle some matter
transitive verb
1 : to bring about through conference, discussion, and agreement or compromise negotiate a contract
2a : to transfer (as an instrument) to another by delivery or endorsement b : to convert into cash or the equivalent value negotiate a check
Learn More about negotiate
-
See words that rhyme with negotiate Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for negotiate Spanish Central: Translation of negotiate Nglish: Translation of negotiate for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of negotiate for Arabic speakers
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up negotiate? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Writing? Check your grammar now!