college

[kol-ij]

noun

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

/ 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

• postcollege noun
• precollege noun
• subcollege noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of college¹

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; colleague

Word History and Origins

Origin of college¹

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

Example Sentences

The recent death of a Korean college student in Cambodia -- reportedly kidnapped and tortured by a local crime ring -- has shocked South Korea.

Read more on Barron's

Schools and colleges set dress codes for female students and sometimes village elders bar an entire community of girls from wearing jeans.

Read more on BBC

The college last month voted to convey the land to the state, which then donated it toward the library.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Kirk, an influential Republican operative who was celebrated for his youth outreach, was assassinated during an event on a college campus in Utah last month.

Read more on Salon

The small-town family from Nepal became, by necessity, versed in the distant Middle Eastern conflict that had claimed their son, whose college education they hoped might transform their fortunes.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal