What does colocate mean?
To colocate is to place two or more things — or people, teams, or organizations — in the same physical location. The word's most prominent modern use is in information technology, where "colocation" describes the practice of housing privately owned servers and networking equipment inside a third-party data center that supplies power, cooling, bandwidth, and physical security. A business that colocates its hardware avoids the cost of building its own facilities while retaining ownership and control of its equipment. Beyond computing, colocate appears in ordinary business and planning language: companies may colocate departments on one floor, or agencies may colocate staff in a shared building to improve collaboration. Derived from Latin roots meaning "together" (com-) and "place" (locare), the verb carries a neutral, practical connotation and is typically found in formal, technical, or professional writing. Its noun form, colocation, is especially widespread in data-center marketing and contracts.
verbTo place or be placed in the same location, especially to house equipment, servers, or organizations together in a shared facility.
- To house servers or IT equipment in a shared third-party data center facility (the dominant modern technical usage).
- More generally, to place two or more people, organizations, or things in the same physical location.
"The company decided to colocate its servers in a secure data center rather than maintain its own server room."
"Rather than running its own cooling and power infrastructure, the startup chose to colocate its hardware at a professional data center."
"The new office plan will colocate the design and engineering teams on the same floor to encourage collaboration."
Every time you stream a video or load a website, chances are your data is being served from machines that were deliberately colocated — packed side by side in vast warehouses of humming computers.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of colocate
Colocate derives from the Latin prefix com- ("together") combined with locare, the Latin verb meaning "to place," which also gives us locate, local, and locality. The word formed in English by analogy with locate, following the pattern of other com- + verb compounds. It gained particular currency in the late twentieth century with the rise of commercial data centers, where "colocation" became a standard industry term for shared hosting facilities.
Related word forms
How colocate is actually used
The word is most common in technical and business contexts, particularly IT and data-center terminology, where "colocation" refers to renting space for one's own servers in a provider's facility. In general usage it simply means placing things or people together in one location. The hyphenated form "co-locate" is an accepted variant spelling.
Easily confused with colocate
"Co-locate" is simply an alternative hyphenated spelling of the same word; both forms mean to place things in the same location.