collegiate

American  

[kuh-lee-jit, -jee-it] / kəˈli dʒɪt, -dʒi ɪt /

adjective

1. of or relating to a college.

   collegiate life.

2. of, characteristic of, or intended for college students.

   collegiate clothes; a collegiate dictionary.

3. of the nature of or constituted as a college.

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noun

1. (in Canada) collegiate institute.

collegiate British  

/ kəˈliːdʒɪɪt /

adjective

1. Also: collegial.  of or relating to a college or college students

2. (of a university) composed of various colleges of equal standing

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noun

1. short for collegiate institute

Other Word Forms

• collegiately adverb
• collegiateness noun
• postcollegiate adjective
• precollegiate adjective
• procollegiate adjective
• pseudocollegiate adjective
• quasi-collegiate adjective
• subcollegiate adjective
• uncollegiate adjective

Etymology

Origin of collegiate

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English word from Late Latin word collēgiātus. See college, -ate ¹

Example Sentences

Meanwhile, student athletes are routinely playing for two, three or four different schools during their collegiate years.

From Salon • Apr. 5, 2026

"You can see the enjoyment from the children but we're also seeing collegiate attitudes amongst the staff."

From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026

During his final season of collegiate basketball in 2011-12, he was the most accurate sharpshooter in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics with a 48.1% three-point field goal percentage.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

Gervase started his collegiate career at Pfeiffer University, a Division III school in Misenheimer, N.C.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 25, 2026

Everyone knew that the center of gravity in American collegiate rowing still lay somewhere between Cambridge, New Haven, Princeton, Ithaca, and Annapolis.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

Related Words

• intellectual
• scholarly
• scholastic