negotiate

verb

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ne·go·ti·ate | \ ni-ˈgō-shē-ˌāt

, nonstandard -sē-

negotiated; negotiating

Definition of negotiate

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 skill

b : 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 sense 1d)

b : to convert into cash or the equivalent value negotiate a check

3a : to successfully travel along or over negotiate a turn

b : complete, accomplish negotiate the trip in two hours

Other Words from negotiate Synonyms The Controversial History of Negotiate More Example Sentences Learn More about negotiate

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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.

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 on the Web But Gantz has expressed more willingness to negotiate with the Palestinians. — Noga Tarnopolsky, Los Angeles Times, "Tight race and high stakes for Israel’s Netanyahu in Tuesday’s vote," 17 Sep. 2019 Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that his country won’t negotiate with the U.S. on any level neither in New York or anywhere else. — Fortune, "Saudi Arabia Has Few Options to Replace the Massive Drop in Oil Output From Its Attacked Plant," 17 Sep. 2019 Other societies are talking about joining forces to negotiate jointly with library consortia. — Jeffrey Brainard, Science | AAAS, "New deals could help scientific societies survive open access," 16 Sep. 2019 Many of those workers are ready and willing to pounce on any early retirement option that the United Auto Workers might negotiate with GM in a new contract. — Wilborn P. Nobles Iii, baltimoresun.com, "Union strike idles General Motors factories just as Baltimore auto workers are arriving at them for new jobs," 16 Sep. 2019 The bankruptcy filing is part of a settlement agreement that the company and its owners negotiated with lawyers for states and thousands of local governments that have struggled for years with the opioid crisis. — Jan Hoffman, New York Times, "Would a Purdue Bankruptcy Protect the Sacklers? Good Question.," 16 Sep. 2019 Should the president continue negotiating with the Taliban? — CBS News, "Transcript: Representative Adam Schiff on "Face the Nation," September 15, 2019," 15 Sep. 2019 In the meantime, the Taliban in effect agreed to negotiate directly with the Afghan government, although this was dressed up as part of a national dialogue. — The Economist, "America will have to resume negotiations with the Taliban eventually," 14 Sep. 2019 Powerful farm and water groups said the bill would threaten water-sharing agreements negotiated with Newsom’s team. — Hannah Wiley, The Mercury News, "Gavin Newsom says he’ll veto Trump-defying California environmental bill," 14 Sep. 2019

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.

History and Etymology for negotiate

borrowed from Latin negōtiātus, past participle of negōtiārī "to do business, trade, deal," derivative of negōtium "work, business, difficulty, annoyance," from nec "not" + ōtium "free time, leisure, tranquility," of obscure origin — more at neglect entry 1

Note: The sense "to confer in order to arrive at a settlement" is probably based on Middle French negocier or Italian negoziare, which had developed this sense, not belonging to the Latin source, by the mid-16th century.

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