college

American  

[kol-ij] / ˈkɒl ɪdʒ /

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.

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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

• postcollege noun
• precollege noun
• subcollege noun

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; colleague

Example Sentences

I describe these “residential proxy networks” in the story of college student and cyber-sleuth Benjamin Brundage.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

In 1995, during his first year at the military college, Hansen met one of his heroes: Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield.

From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026

At the time I was working as a hairstylist, a career I’d fallen into after dropping out of college in my early 20s.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026

The complaint also states that during the 2024 offseason, DeLorenzo was “forced” to take part in “a low-level college clinic, involving different rules, different mechanics, and different philosophies as compared to the NFL.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026

He was determined that his children would go to college.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson