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.

---

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

---

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

None of the four — neither Trent Mosley, nor Kayden Dixon-Wyatt nor Tron Baker or Mark Bowman — had played in a college football game.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026

Connors, who played at Murrieta Valley High and Riverside City College before finishing his college career at Rice and Houston, rushed for 69 yards in 18 carries.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

Public school pre-K programs were the only setting in which teachers were required to have a college degree.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026

For decades, college football has prepared athletes for the pros.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

“Tribal college in Kansas? Gramma Liz’s best friend Barb went there?”

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

There is increasing pressure for schools, colleges and universities to focus on giving young people what they need to be work-ready alongside academic learning.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

Todd Monken crossed paths with Kiffin many times while both crisscrossed the country for decades, taking this job and that, as head coaches and assistants at top colleges and in the NFL.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

France has already banned children from using mobile phones in colleges -- the schools attended between the ages of 11 and 15 -- and in primary schools.

From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026

Admittedly technophobic, I had students help me recreate my in-person classes with Zoom, the platform used by 90% of U.S. colleges.

From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026

After corresponding with the heads of several colleges, he decided to attend Williams College, a small, all-male school in the hills of northwestern Massachusetts.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow