colleague
Americannoun
noun
Usage
What does colleague mean? A colleague is someone you work with or someone who’s in the same profession as you, especially a peer within that profession.Colleague can be a synonym for coworker, which is someone who has the same employer as you. But it also used to refer to people who have different employers but who work in the same or a very similar profession, especially when they regularly interact or share knowledge. For example, two medical researchers who work for different universities but who collaborate to publish research findings would be called colleagues.Example: Sarah has received an outpouring of support from her fellow attorneys at the firm as well as many of her colleagues in the legal community.
Other Word Forms
- colleagueship noun
Etymology
Origin of colleague
First recorded in 1515–25; from Middle French collegue, from Latin collēga, equivalent to col- “with, together” ( col- 1 ) + -lēga, derivative of legere “to choose, gather”
Compare meaning
How does colleague compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
“Marcus had a rare gift of connecting with everyone he met, making summers and weekends brighter for sailing program participants and his fellow colleagues,” the statement said.
From Los Angeles Times
He and his colleagues have instead designed an aboveboard playbook for reducing tariffs.
Just as my colleagues did, I reached out to those featured in this article to give them an opportunity to comment.
From Salon
Opponents initially called for Constance to stand down, then for Swinney to sack her - however the first minister backed his colleague.
From BBC
Those supportive of the prime minister are pleading with their colleagues to "hold our nerve", as one put it to me.
From BBC
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.
