college

American  

[kol-ij] / ˈkɒl ɪdʒ /

noun

colleges plural

1. an institution of higher learning, especially one providing a general or liberal arts education rather than technical or professional training.

2. a constituent unit of a university, furnishing courses of instruction in the liberal arts and sciences, usually leading to a bachelor's degree.

3. an institution for vocational, technical, or professional instruction, as in medicine, pharmacy, agriculture, or music, often a part of a university.

4. an endowed, self-governing association of scholars incorporated within a university, as at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England.

5. a similar corporation outside a university.

6. the building or buildings occupied by an institution of higher education.

7. the administrators, faculty, and students of a college.

8. (in Britain and Canada) a private secondary school.

9. an organized association of persons having certain powers and rights, and performing certain duties or engaged in a particular pursuit.

   The Electoral College formally selects the president.

10. a company; assemblage.

11. Also called collegium.  a body of clergy living together on a foundation for religious service or similar activity.

12. British Slang. a prison.

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college British  

/ ˈkɒlɪdʒ /

noun

1. an institution of higher education; part of a university

2. a school or an institution providing specialized courses or teaching

   a college of music

3. the building or buildings in which a college is housed

4. the staff and students of a college

5. an organized body of persons with specific rights and duties See also Sacred College

   an electoral college

6. a body of clerics living in community and supported by endowment

7. an obsolete slang word for prison

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• postcollege
  noun
• precollege
  noun
• subcollege
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• colleges
  plural

Etymology

Origin of college

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Middle French, from Latin collēgium, from col- col- ¹ + lēg-, variant stem of legere “to choose, gather, read” + -ium -ium; cf. colleague

Explanation

In the US, people pursuing education after high school go to college––spending either two or four years earning an associate's degree or a bachelor's degree. Many colleges are housed within universities. College derives from the Latin collegium 'partnership, association.' While a university offers many programs leading to graduate degrees beyond a bachelor's degree, a college is undergraduate only. So if you want to pursue becoming a lawyer, a doctor, or a college professor, chances are college is just a weigh station on your route to graduate school.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

college colleges

One of the most prominent spokesmen for Christian nationalism is Doug Wilson, an Idaho pastor and founder of a college and publishing company.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

She is a first-generation college graduate who began her higher education journey at San Bernardino Valley College.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

See also: Employers to college students: never mind that 4.0 GPA.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

Martina Bergman Osterberg, born in 1849, developed a Dartford college that the Windsor Magazine labelled "the most remarkable educational establishment in the world"

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

They’d met at the Indian dorm in some college, maybe there.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

These efforts were to be aimed at historically black colleges or universities, tribal higher educational institutions and “minority-serving institutions.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

Yours does not include the most expensive colleges, despite your daughter’s wish to play and study at the best.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

Many rowers who race for Cambridge these days don’t represent their colleges come summer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

The ability to switch programmes and transfer between universities and colleges will also be restricted.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026

She and her three sisters had attended church three times a week, rarely watched television, and had each enrolled at Christian colleges after high school.

From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John