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

Supporting colleagues is something he takes seriously in his role, just as personal praise, while good to receive, is not his prime motivation.

Read more on BBC

And her workspace is fraught with a tense relationship with her colleague, made all the more tense by the fact that he’s also her therapist.

Read more on Salon

On June 12, Melyssa Rivas had just started her workday when a colleague burst into her office with urgent news: “ICE is here.”

Read more on Salon

One of her colleagues raised the alarm over a walkie-talkie and then "we finished evacuating the visits without quite realising really what was going on".

Read more on BBC

She also alleged that while on duty abroad she was grabbed and kissed by her a colleague who resisted her attempts to get away.

Read more on BBC

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.