Co-operation or cooperation?
co-operation is a noun meaning “Alternative spelling of cooperation”; cooperation is a noun meaning “The act of cooperating”. Wiktionary gives them as spellings of the same word. co-operation is written with a hyphen and cooperation as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between co-operation and cooperation?
| co-operation | cooperation | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun |
| Meaning | Alternative spelling of cooperation | The act of cooperating Active help from a person, organization, etc., such as an orderly sharing of space or resources Dated spelling of cooperation |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Forms | none | cooperations coöperations |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /kəʊˌɒp.əˈɹeɪ.ʃən/ /kəˌwɔpəˈɹɛjʃ(ə)n/ /koʊˌɑ.pəˈɹeɪ.ʃən/ |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | 20 times per million words |
Sources: co-operation and cooperation in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of co-operation and cooperation
co-operation
- 1
Alternative spelling of cooperation
cooperation
- 1
The act of cooperating
- 2
Dated spelling of cooperation
- 3
Active help from a person, organization, etc., such as an orderly sharing of space or resources
- 4
Association for mutual benefit, such as for purposes of production or purchase
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, co-operation or cooperation?
co-operation is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; cooperation 20 times per million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).