colleague

[kol-eeg]

noun

1. an associate.

colleague

/ ˈkɒliːɡ /

noun

1. a fellow worker or member of a staff, department, profession, etc

Other Word Forms

• colleagueship noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of colleague¹

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”

Word History and Origins

Origin of colleague¹

C16: from French collègue, from Latin collēga one selected at the same time as another, from com- together + lēgāre to choose

Example Sentences

De Graaff and her colleagues tested a wide range of galaxy and active galactic nucleus models against the object's spectrum, attempting to reproduce its features.

Read more on Science Daily

Using old field photographs and careful detective work, Sereno and his colleagues retraced the locations in east-central Wyoming where several classic dinosaur mummies had first been uncovered in the early 1900s.

Read more on Science Daily

Sipos initially found work as assistant to more experienced foreign colleagues.

Read more on Barron's

"I've got great family, great friends, brilliant colleagues from reporters to pundits to commentators but my kids are my world and I had to tell them," he said.

Read more on BBC

Hollywood often depicts the office as a shark tank, with ruthless colleagues stabbing backs, stepping over others or selling their souls to get to the top.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• aide 
• ally 
• assistant 
• buddy 
• co-worker 
• companion 
• comrade 
• friend 
• partner 
• teammate 

When To Use

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.