Collocate vs colocate

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Grammarist

Collocate is a verb that is defined as words  or items being set side by side. This word has been around since the early 1500s.

Colocate is a verb that means to place two or more items closely together, sometimes in order to use a shared resource. An alternative spelling includes a hyphen, co-locate, though at least one prominent dictionary did not list it. The hyphenated spelling is the first listing in some European dictionaries, with no alternative listed as well. The varied definitions isn’t too surprising. This word has only been around since the sixties and hyphens are almost always problematic.

In actual usage, we found that the hyphen spelling is found in and outside the United States and is, in fact, the more preferred form.

The noun form is colocation or co-location.

Examples

If the city can’t find room for charters inside public schools — an arrangement known as colocation — they must pay to house them elsewhere. [NBC News]

Colocating with Iron Mountain enables First Marblehead to leverage a single provider for its data center and managed services needs while benefitting from flexible and predictable contract options. [Market Watch]

She appealed to them to construct the hospital on a greenfield site and co-locate it with a maternity hospital. [Irish Independent]

The one-day co-located events designed to educate those working in the public sector, the finance sector and those involved with Agile Programme and Project Management. [Real Wire]