- done or shared by all members of a group of people; involving a whole group or society
- collective leadership/decision-making/responsibility
- collective memory (= things that a group of people or a community know or remember, that are often passed from parents to children)
Extra ExamplesTopics Discussion and agreementc1, People in societyc1- It was formed as a permanent association of employers to represent their collective interests.
- MPs heaved a collective sigh of relief when the news was announced last night.
- The austerities of wartime Europe were still fresh in the collective memory.
- There has to be a balance between individual choice and collective responsibility.
- We encourage collective decision-making about patient care, involving medical staff, the patient and family.
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- used to refer to all members of a group
- The collective name for mast, boom and sails on a boat is the ‘rig’.
Word Originlate Middle English (in the sense ‘representing many individuals’): from Old French collectif, -ive or Latin collectivus, from collect- ‘gathered together’, from the verb colligere, from col- ‘together’ + legere ‘choose or collect’.
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collective