jointly

jointly — adverb

1. with each person, group, or organization taking an equal share of responsibility

1.adverbB2
Definition

with each person, group, or organization taking an equal share of responsibility or credit for a combined action, decision, or project

Example

The two companies jointly developed a new electric car engine.

collocation: jointly + developed (R&D contexts)

Saira and her brother jointly own a small café in Bangkok.

Common collocations
  • jointly owned
  • jointly developed
  • jointly managed
  • jointly funded
  • jointly decided
  • jointly responsible
  • agree jointly
  • work jointly
  • act jointly
Synonyms
  • together

    more general; can describe physical closeness or mere accompaniment, not just shared responsibility

  • collectively

    emphasises the group acting as a whole rather than the equal share of each individual; slightly more formal

  • mutually

    focuses on a reciprocal or two-way relationship between the participants, often in agreements or feelings

  • in partnership

    suggests a formal legal or business arrangement rather than an informal shared action

Antonyms
  • separately

    each person or group acting on their own rather than together

  • individually

    each person acting alone rather than as part of a combined effort

  • singly

    one at a time, without combining efforts; less common in everyday speech

Usage Note

Often appears before a past participle (jointly owned) or before a past-tense main verb. The subject of the sentence must refer to two or more participants — a singular subject cannot act jointly.

Common Mistakes

We jointly walked to the station.
We walked to the station together.
'Jointly' implies shared responsibility or involvement in a task, not mere physical proximity or accompaniment.
The student jointly finished the homework.
The two students jointly finished the homework.
The subject of 'jointly' must be two or more people or groups.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adverb/1

All four words describe multiple participants acting in combination, but they differ in scope and formality. 'Together' is the broadest and most common — it can describe physical proximity ('stand together'), accompaniment ('eat together'), or shared goals ('work together'). 'Jointly' is more specific to structured, equal-participation situations — it implies that each participant has an equally weighted role, often in formal or business contexts. 'Collectively' widens the focus from the individuals to the group as a single unit, so it suits discussions of group decisions or group responsibility. 'Mutually' adds a reciprocal element — participants do something to or for each other (e.g., 'mutually agree', 'mutually beneficial'), which 'jointly' does not require. For everyday shared activities without a formal or equal-participation emphasis, 'together' is the natural choice: 'The family ate dinner together' sounds normal, whereas 'The family jointly ate dinner' sounds overly legal.

jointly ↗together ↗collectivelymutually

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • jointly and severally (legal term for shared liability)

Prepositions

  • with (jointly with/in partnership with)
  • by (jointly owned by)

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Formed from the adjective 'joint' (meaning 'shared or combined') plus the adverbial suffix '-ly'. 'Joint' entered English from Old French 'joint' ('joined, united'), which is the past participle of 'joindre' ('to join'). The French verb traces back to Latin 'iungere' ('to join, unite, connect'), from the same Indo-European root that gave English 'yoke'. The adverb 'jointly' has been in use since the early 1500s to describe actions performed with shared authority or responsibility.