academe

American  

[ak-uh-deem, ak-uh-deem] / ˈæk əˌdim, ˌæk əˈdim /

noun

1. the campus activity, life, and interests of a college or university; the academic world.

2. Sometimes Academe any place of instruction; a school.

3. a person living in, accustomed to, or preferring the environment of a university.

4. a scholarly or pedantic person, especially a teacher or student.

5. Academe, the public grove in Athens in which Plato taught.

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academe British  

/ ˈækəˌdiːm /

noun

1. any place of learning, such as a college or university

2. the academic world

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Etymology

Origin of academe

First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin Acadēmus, Greek Akádēmos; see Academus

Explanation

Use the noun academe when you're talking about a college or university community. The world of academe can be a little intimidating when you're a freshman. Academe is the community and scholarly environment within an institution of higher education, and it's more often called "academia." Professors, graduate students, researchers, and undergraduates all contribute to the environment of academe, and if you plan on teaching at a university some day, you hope to enter academe. The earliest meaning, from the Greek word Akademeia, was simply "The Academy."

Example Sentences

For generations, consensus achieved in the remotest groves of academe has trickled down to public consciousness through curricula, textbooks, trade publishing, museum exhibits, and other highly curated channels.

From Slate • Oct. 30, 2021

Although academe may dismiss the Galileo Project as nothing more than pandering to a gullible public, such prejudice is unhelpful and myopic.

From Scientific American • Jul. 29, 2021

With its indeterminate instrumentation and its tinge of academe, few pianists have taken it up with ease or regularity — and fewer still of Mr. Trifonov’s imagination.

From New York Times • Mar. 13, 2020

“We set out with the idea that while we were going to make academe our beat, we were going to be primarily a journalistic newspaper,” Crowl told the Associated Press in 1984.

From Washington Post • Jul. 31, 2019

“Neither one of you appears to be having much fun on your holiday. You could have stayed in the halls of academe and looked evil.”

From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison