college

American  

[kol-ij] / ˈkɒl ɪdʒ /

noun

colleges plural

1. an institution of higher learning, especially one providing a general or liberal arts education rather than technical or professional training.

2. a constituent unit of a university, furnishing courses of instruction in the liberal arts and sciences, usually leading to a bachelor's degree.

3. an institution for vocational, technical, or professional instruction, as in medicine, pharmacy, agriculture, or music, often a part of a university.

4. an endowed, self-governing association of scholars incorporated within a university, as at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England.

5. a similar corporation outside a university.

6. the building or buildings occupied by an institution of higher education.

7. the administrators, faculty, and students of a college.

8. (in Britain and Canada) a private secondary school.

9. an organized association of persons having certain powers and rights, and performing certain duties or engaged in a particular pursuit.

   The Electoral College formally selects the president.

10. a company; assemblage.

11. Also called collegium.  a body of clergy living together on a foundation for religious service or similar activity.

12. British Slang. a prison.

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college British  

/ ˈkɒlɪdʒ /

noun

1. an institution of higher education; part of a university

2. a school or an institution providing specialized courses or teaching

   a college of music

3. the building or buildings in which a college is housed

4. the staff and students of a college

5. an organized body of persons with specific rights and duties See also Sacred College

   an electoral college

6. a body of clerics living in community and supported by endowment

7. an obsolete slang word for prison

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• postcollege
  noun
• precollege
  noun
• subcollege
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• colleges
  plural

Etymology

Origin of college

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Middle French, from Latin collēgium, from col- col- ¹ + lēg-, variant stem of legere “to choose, gather, read” + -ium -ium; cf. colleague

Explanation

In the US, people pursuing education after high school go to college––spending either two or four years earning an associate's degree or a bachelor's degree. Many colleges are housed within universities. College derives from the Latin collegium 'partnership, association.' While a university offers many programs leading to graduate degrees beyond a bachelor's degree, a college is undergraduate only. So if you want to pursue becoming a lawyer, a doctor, or a college professor, chances are college is just a weigh station on your route to graduate school.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

college colleges

"These measures will be crucial in helping young people get the sleep they need, focus on school and college, and spend more quality time with family and friends."

From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026

Others who spoke argued the university should focus on preparing students earlier for college rather than screening them out.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

She says that to get there, she leapt from one college job to another for close to a decade, using each new role to gain specialised skills that would help with her career advancement.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

The complex array of TV sports deals has been a boon for professional and college leagues, generating billions in revenues from networks and streaming platforms eager for live games and clip-heavy highlight shows.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

Fortunately, since Jimmie had a college degree, the principal invited him to replace me in my classroom when the time came.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

In the Imperial Valley, colleges created training programs in response to a promised lithium industry.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

Some colleges track whether students visit their website; how long they spend on virtual campus tours; or whether they open emailed links, said Brett Schraeder, who works on enrollment modeling for EAB, an education-consulting firm.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

The leaders of Northern Ireland's five universities and university colleges have previously called for tuition fees to rise by more than £1,000 a year.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

Nearly all my cousins still live in O.C., buying homes on blue-collar salaries and seeing their children off to colleges we didn’t have the opportunity to attend because we were discouraged by our parents.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026

Tyler has one sibling, an older brother studying music at Bloomsburg University, one of the Pennsylvania state colleges that attract Truman students.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove