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

A few years after graduating from college, I moved to Washington, D.C. — my first “big girl” move away from home.

From Salon

In today’s college football landscape there are plenty of teams who use the transfer portal to be competitive while building toward something better.

From Los Angeles Times

And so, one year on from that season in Canada, she had left college and moved to Portugal to join Sporting, despite heavy interest in France and England.

From BBC

The young adult rom-com follows Avery Blackwell, a rising college freshman who postpones her plans to attend Columbia after a note from her late mother sends her on a scavenger hunt in England.

From Los Angeles Times

We’d love to have a country that supports free speech, offers universal health care and free education through college, taxes the rich appropriately and truly supports families and workers.

From Salon