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Synonyms

university

American  
[yoo-nuh-vur-si-tee] / ˌyu nəˈvɜr sɪ ti /

noun

plural

universities

  1. an institution of learning of the highest level, having a college of liberal arts and a program of graduate studies together with several professional schools, as of theology, law, medicine, and engineering, and authorized to confer both undergraduate and graduate degrees. Continental European universities usually have only graduate or professional schools.

university British  
/ ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːsɪtɪ /

noun

  1. an institution of higher education having authority to award bachelors' and higher degrees, usually having research facilities

  2. the buildings, members, staff, or campus of a university

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • antiuniversity adjective
  • counteruniversity noun
  • interuniversity adjective
  • nonuniversity noun
  • preuniversity adjective
  • prouniversity adjective
  • universitarian noun

Etymology

Origin of university

1250–1300; Middle English universite < Old French < Medieval Latin ūniversitās, Late Latin: guild, corporation, Latin: totality, equivalent to ūnivers ( us ) ( universe ) + -itās -ity

Compare meaning

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Sixteen of the 20 confirmed cases were university students and four were secondary school students, he said.

From BBC

The uncertainty has led her to enroll back in university, hoping to find a different job—or even leave the province.

From BBC

These classes make Megan Riley, a paralegal apprentice, feel "empowered" and connected after her friends moved away to university.

From BBC

Improved snowpack modeling and soil moisture estimates, experimental temperature measurements at different snow depths, university collaborations and incorporating weather outlooks are helping, according to the Department of Water Resources.

From Los Angeles Times

I tell the AI that it’s the chair of a university ethics board, or a professor of journalism who’s charged with finding every error in a piece of AI-generated research.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.