faculty

American  

[fak-uhl-tee] / ˈfæk əl ti /

noun

plural

faculties

1. an ability, natural or acquired, for a particular kind of action.

   a faculty for making friends easily.

   Synonyms:

   skill, potential, knack, aptitude, capacity

2. one of the powers of the mind, as memory, reason, or speech.

   Though very sick, he is in full possession of all his faculties.

3. an inherent capability of the body.

   the faculties of sight and hearing.

4. exceptional ability or aptitude.

   a president with a faculty for management.

5. Education.

   1. the entire teaching and administrative force of a university, college, or school.

   2. one of the departments of learning, as theology, medicine, or law, in a university.

   3. the teaching body, sometimes with the students, in any of these departments.

6. the members of a learned profession.

   the medical faculty.

7. a power or privilege conferred by the state, a superior, etc..

   The police were given the faculty to search the building.

8. Ecclesiastical. a dispensation, license, or authorization.

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faculty British  

/ ˈfækəltɪ /

noun

1. one of the inherent powers of the mind or body, such as reason, memory, sight, or hearing

2. any ability or power, whether acquired or inherent

3. a conferred power or right

4. 1. a department within a university or college devoted to a particular branch of knowledge

   2. the staff of such a department

   3. all the teaching staff at a university, college, school, etc

5. all members of a learned profession

6. archaic occupation

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Related Words

See ability.

Other Word Forms

• interfaculty noun
• profaculty adjective
• underfaculty noun

Etymology

Origin of faculty

1350–1400; Middle English faculte < Anglo-French, Middle French < Latin facultāt- (stem of facultās ) ability, power, equivalent to facil ( is ) easy ( see facile) + -tāt- -ty ²; cf. facility

Explanation

A faculty refers to any of your mental or physical abilities. If you lose your faculties, you are powerless. The faculty of a school is comprised of the people who work there. Lose them, and you have a different kind of problem. Faculty comes from the Old French word faculté, which means “skill, accomplishment, or learning.” You may have great faculties of memory, sight, mobility, charm, math, and musicality, but, as Beethoven was in the end, be robbed of your faculty of hearing. Any aptitude or ability — inborn or learned — that you have is a faculty. Also, if you go to school, your teachers make up the faculty of that school.

Example Sentences

But he made his position clear in an April 15 speech before invited faculty and students at the University of Texas at Austin.

From Salon • Apr. 19, 2026

The union is also asking for access to UC-administered housing programs, such as sub-market rate loans for home purchases that are available to certain faculty and senior employees.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2026

"I had never seen anything like it before," said Xiao, a faculty member in the College of Science.

From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2026

“I think students need to think about their network broadly in that way: their faculty, their career center, and, if they’re in clubs, the adviser to the clubs and the other club members.”

From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026

When she picked me up after detention, she pulled into the faculty parking lot and turned off the engine.

From "Maybe He Just Likes You" by Barbara Dee

Related Words

• department
• institute
• personnel
• staff
• university