college

[kol-ij]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR college ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

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

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

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

a similar corporation outside a university.

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

the administrators, faculty, and students of a college.

(in Britain and Canada) a private secondary school.

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.

a company; assemblage.

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

British Slang. a prison.

Origin of college

1350–1400; Middle English < Anglo-French, Middle French < Latin collēgium, equivalent to col- col-¹ + lēg-, variant stem of legere to gather + -ium -ium; cf. colleague

Related formspost·col·lege, noun, adjectivepre·col·lege, noun, adjectivesub·col·lege, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for college

Contemporary Examples of college

This is the Mexico that U.S. college students would be wise to steer clear of on spring break.
Why Mexicans Are Enraged by Obama’s Big Tuesday Meeting
Ruben Navarrette Jr.
January 6, 2015
Under the current president and his predecessor, Jett notes, the ambassadorship of Belize has gone to college roommates.
U.S. Embassies Have Always Been for Sale
William O’Connor
January 2, 2015
In my four years of college, I know exactly one woman who has asked a man out on a date.
Random Hook-Ups or Dry Spells: Why Millennials Flunk College Dating
Ellie Schaack
January 1, 2015
He had studied accounting in college, but he had become a cop for the same reason as Ramos.
In The Shadow of Murdered Cops
Michael Daly
December 26, 2014
The congressman traces his belief in Santa Claus back 40 years, when he was a student going to college “on the GI Bill.”
Kerry Bentivolio: The Congressman Who Believes in Santa Claus
Ben Jacobs
December 24, 2014

Historical Examples of college

I just came because I heard about Harlowe House and wanted to go to college.
Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus
Jessie Graham Flower
Now I shall be expelled from college and it is all your fault.
Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus
Jessie Graham Flower
This gentleman is bran new from college, and will be more than a match for you.
The Imaginary Invalid
Molire
And, the day after his arrival from college, there came a mighty snow-storm.
The Paradise of Children
Nathaniel Hawthorne
For this reason the century will ask its men to take a college education.
The Call of the Twentieth Century
David Starr Jordan

British Dictionary definitions for college

college

noun

an institution of higher education; part of a university

a school or an institution providing specialized courses or teachinga college of music

the building or buildings in which a college is housed

the staff and students of a college

an organized body of persons with specific rights and dutiesan electoral college See also Sacred College

a body of clerics living in community and supported by endowment

mainly British an obsolete slang word for prison

Word Origin for college

C14: from Latin collēgium company, society, band of associates, from collēga; see colleague

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for college

"body of scholars and students within a university," late 14c., from Old French college "collegiate body" (14c.), from Latin collegium "community, society, guild," literally "association of collegae" (see colleague). At first meaning any corporate group, the sense of "academic institution" attested from 1560s became the principal sense in 19c. via use at Oxford and Cambridge.

college

noun

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Origin of college

Examples from the Web for college

Contemporary Examples of college

Historical Examples of college

college

noun

Word Origin for college