university

[yoo-nuh-vur-si-tee]

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

/ 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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of university¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of university¹

C14: from Old French universite, from Medieval Latin universitās group of scholars, from Late Latin: guild, society, body of men, from Latin: whole, totality, universe

Example Sentences

The layoffs have included employees across the university and its health system, including student academic advisers.

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Kardashian has been studying to become a lawyer for the last six years, undertaking an apprenticeship that negates the need for a university degree.

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The RSF and its allied militia rampaged across Sudan, pillaging cities, markets, universities, and hospitals.

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The project has previously used pioneering technology by experts at Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee universities, to create facial restorations of a number of the skeletons.

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They showed university staff in China had been threatened by individuals identified as being from China's National Security Service, who demanded the research by Prof Murphy taking place in Sheffield be shut down.

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Related Words

• academy 
• institution 
• school