Plural of collaborator; people who work together on a project, or people who work with an enemy occupying force.
From Latin 'col-' (together) plus 'laborare' (to work). The word originally just meant 'co-worker,' but gained its sinister meaning during WWII when collaborators aided Nazi occupiers. Context changed its moral weight.
The same word 'collaborator' means both 'my amazing co-author' and 'traitor during wartime'—context is everything! WWII gave the word such negative weight that we had to invent new phrases like 'co-creator' and 'partner' to describe normal teamwork without the baggage.
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