Apex organisation: a national tertiary co-operative or national co-operative federations, sometimes called a "co-operative union".

Asset-lock: a legal restriction in national law or in a co-operative's bylaws that prevents the distribution of a co-operative's indivisible reserves on the dissolution of a co-operative.

Board: the elected and appointed or co-opted members of the board of directors or other collective body that exercises governance control over a co-operative enterprise and is accountable to a co-operative's members.

Bylaws: the governing constitution or rules of a co-operative that enshrines in law its nature, identity and objects as a co-operative operating in accordance with the Co-operative Principles that protects the democratic rights of members to control their co-operative enterprise.

Co-operative: an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise.

Co-operative commonwealth: the combined economic, social and environmental activities and effects of all co-operative enterprises that create wealth in a sustainable way for the many not the few.

Co-operative enterprise: a business enterprise operated by a co-operative in accordance with the Co-operative Principles.

Co-operative federation: an organisation of a number of co-operatives that provides support services to or represents member co-operatives.

Co-operative movement: the global family of co-operatives that operate co-operative enterprises in accordance with the Co-operative values and Principles adopted by the Alliance.

Co-operative Principles: the Seven Co-operative Principles set out in The statement on the Co-operative Identity recognised by the members of the Alliance as the fundamental guiding practical operating principles for the governance and management of a co-operative enterprise.

Co-operative union: an alternative name for a national apex organisation.

Co-operative shares: (also called membership shares) the capital provided for the co-operative by its members as a condition of membership which provides, at least in part, the working capital of the co-operative.

Coop2Coop trade: a business relationship between co-operatives in which one co-operative enters into a trading relationship with another.

Co-operative founders: the philosophical thinkers and founders of the modern co-operative movement who pioneered the development of co-operatives in different countries and on different continents during the 19th and 20th centuries. these include: robert owen in Wales, england and Scotland; Alfonse and Dorimène Desjardins in Quebec, Canada; Charles fourier and Charles Gide in france; Dr William King in england; friederich reiffeisen and herman Schultz-Delitzsch in Germany; horace Plunkett in Ireland; frs. Jimmy tomkins, Moses Cady, rev. hugh MacPherson and Ab MacDonald who founded the Antigonish Co-operative Movement in Nova Scotia; fr. José Maria Arizmendiarrieta in Mondaragon Spain and the rochdale Pioneers in rochdale, england.

Corporate member: a member of a co-operative that is a corporate person.

Corporate person: a legal person that is an incorporated organisation under national legislation.

Credit union: a member-owned financial co-operative operated for the purpose of promoting thrift, providing credit at competitive but not usurious rates and providing other financial services to its members.

Dividend: part of a co-operative's annual surplus returned to members based on each member's participation in the creation of the surplus, essentially a post year-end adjustment to the price transactions between the member and the co-operative (referred to by some co-operatives as a "patronage refund"). In some jurisdictions, "dividend" also includes a limited return on member's capital.

(Nb: this differs fundamentally from the dividend paid to shareholders of a joint stock company as a share of profits that is part of a speculative return on capital invested).

Electoral committee: a committee of a co-operative appointed by the members to oversee the independent and fair administration of elections.

Fair market rate or compensatory return: the limited rate of return on withdrawable share capital; the lowest rate of return sufficient to obtain the capital a co-operative requires from its members.

General assembly: a general meeting of members, or their delegates, of a co-operative, or of the Alliance at which major policy decisions, strategic issues and in some co-operatives, major business decisions are taken and representatives elected to the board that controls a co-operative.

Human rights: the fundamental rights of individual persons set out in the united nations Declaration of human rights and the 1966 united nations International Covenant of human rights.

Hybrid Co-operative: a co-operative that has issued equity shares to non-member investors.

Indivisible reserves: a co-operative's retained earnings owned collectively by its members which represent the net assets of the co-operative after the payment of all residual debt that are the common property of the co-operative and do not belong to any generation of members.

International Co-operative Alliance (also called the "Alliance"): the global membership organisation founded by the global co-operative movement in 1895 and recognised by the united nations, the International labour organization and the united nations food and Agriculture organization as a consultative body.

Law first: the objects stated in the 1844 rule book of The rochdale society of equitable Pioneers.

Legal person: an individual, company or other corporate organisation that has legal rights and is subject to legal obligations.

Member: an individual or legal person who chooses to belong to a voluntary organisation.

Members' capital: the amount of money paid to the co-operative by members as a condition of membership to provide working capital for their co-operative.

Member's share: the amount a member contributes to the common members' capital of a co-operative as a condition of membership, the contribution of which grants a member voting rights under the provisions of a co-operative's rules or byelaws.

Multi-stakeholder co-operative: a co-operative with more than one class of legal persons as members.

Ombudsman/Ombudswoman: an official appointed by a co-operative or under co-operative legislation to examine and report on complaints made by members.

Patronage refund: an alternative term for dividend; that part of a co-operative's annual surplus distributed to members based on each member's participation in creating the surplus.

Primary co-operative: a co-operative that operates a co-operative enterprise for the benefit of its members.

Profit: the total annual positive results of a co-operative's trading.

Rochdale: an industrial town in Lancashire, england that at the beginning of the industrial revolution was the town in which the rochdale Pioneers established their consumers co-operative and is now recognised internationally as the birthplace of the modern co-operative movement.

Rochdale Pioneers: the founder members of the first successful co-operative enterprise in rochdale, england: the rochdale Society of equitable Pioneers.

Secondary co-operative: a co-operative the members of which are primary co-operatives.

Sectoral organisation: a national, regional or international organisation that represents the interests of co-operatives operating in a particular business sector, such as banking, fishing, agriculture, housing, worker co-operatives, etc.

Surplus: that part of a co-operative's annual trading profit deriving from the economic relationship with its members.

Sustainable development: development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs defined in the bruntland report "our Common future" presented to the 1992 un Conference on environment and Development, also called "the earth Summit" that, since 1997, has been recognised by the International Court of Justice as a concept in international law.

Tertiary co-operative: a national co-operative, co-operative union or co-operative federation that represents the interests of its member co-operatives nationally and internationally.

The rochdale society of equitable Pioneers: the co-operative enterprise founded by the rochdale Pioneers in rochdale, england, which commenced trading on the on the 21st of December 1844.

The statement on the Co-operative Identity, values and Principles: adopted in 1995 during the gathering of the international cooperative movement in general assembly of the Alliance in Manchester, england, see http://ica.coop/en/what-co-operative

Usufruct: the right to use and enjoy the fruits of a thing possessed: in the case of a co-operative, the members' right to enjoy the benefits that arise from a co-operative's indivisible reserves, which are the common property of the co-operative.

Withdrawable share capital: members' capital that is withdrawable by members on terms agreed by the co-operative on giving notice to the co-operative on which a limited or compensatory return is paid, if any.