adj. & n.
--adj.
1. formed by or constituting a collection.
2 taken as a whole; aggregate (our collective opinion).
3 of or from several or many individuals; common.
--n.
1. a collective farm. b any cooperative enterprise. c its members.
2 collective noun.
Phrases and idioms:
collective bargaining negotiation of wages etc. by an organized body of employees. collective farm a jointly-operated esp. State-owned amalgamation of several smallholdings. collective noun Gram. a noun that is grammatically singular and denotes a collection or number of individuals (e.g. assembly, family, troop). collective ownership ownership of land, means of production, etc., by all for the benefit of all. collective unconscious Psychol. (in Jungian theory) the part of the unconscious mind derived from ancestral memory and experience common to all mankind, as distinct from the personal unconscious.
Derivatives:
collectively adv. collectiveness n. collectivity n.
Etymology: F collectif or L collectivus (as COLLECT(1))