university

American  

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

noun

universities plural

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.

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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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• universities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of university

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

Compare meaning

How does university compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• State College vs. university

Explanation

A university is a big school where you go to get a degree — maybe even a master’s or PhD. If you’re going to a university, you’re probably on a big campus that also offers housing for students and professors. Just like the word universe (“the whole world”), university comes from the Latin word universus, meaning "whole, entire." So think of a university as being sort of a world of its own — an institute of higher education where you live and study. A university generally offers advanced degrees and research opportunities in many fields. Sometimes college and university are used to mean the same thing, but colleges are typically smaller and more limited in scope than universities.

Example Sentences

But it has an advantage in this new field of computing owing to its longtime quantum-physics and engineering prowess at the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Argonne National Laboratory and Fermilab.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 23, 2026

Lead author Associate Professor Trevor Worthy of Flinders University says the fossils reveal a bird community unlike anything seen in New Zealand today.

From Science Daily • Jun. 23, 2026

Castuciano had degrees from both the University of California Los Angeles and the University of Southern California, and had developed a professional network in the region.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 23, 2026

Backers of the project said it has a leg up in part because the University of Chicago has spent more than a decade building a quantum-tech sector in the region.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 23, 2026

Indeed, Margaret and Charlie would go on to earn master’s degrees in education, one at Columbia University and the other at New York University.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

Related Words

• academy
• institution
• school