faculty

American  

[fak-uhl-tee] / ˈfæk əl ti /

noun

plural

faculties

1. an ability, natural or acquired, for a particular kind of action.

   a faculty for making friends easily.

   Synonyms:

   skill, potential, knack, aptitude, capacity

2. one of the powers of the mind, as memory, reason, or speech.

   Though very sick, he is in full possession of all his faculties.

3. an inherent capability of the body.

   the faculties of sight and hearing.

4. exceptional ability or aptitude.

   a president with a faculty for management.

5. Education.

   1. the entire teaching and administrative force of a university, college, or school.

   2. one of the departments of learning, as theology, medicine, or law, in a university.

   3. the teaching body, sometimes with the students, in any of these departments.

6. the members of a learned profession.

   the medical faculty.

7. a power or privilege conferred by the state, a superior, etc..

   The police were given the faculty to search the building.

8. Ecclesiastical. a dispensation, license, or authorization.

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faculty British  

/ ˈfækəltɪ /

noun

1. one of the inherent powers of the mind or body, such as reason, memory, sight, or hearing

2. any ability or power, whether acquired or inherent

3. a conferred power or right

4. 1. a department within a university or college devoted to a particular branch of knowledge

   2. the staff of such a department

   3. all the teaching staff at a university, college, school, etc

5. all members of a learned profession

6. archaic occupation

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Related Words

See ability.

Other Word Forms

• interfaculty noun
• profaculty adjective
• underfaculty noun

Etymology

Origin of faculty

1350–1400; Middle English faculte < Anglo-French, Middle French < Latin facultāt- (stem of facultās ) ability, power, equivalent to facil ( is ) easy ( facile ) + -tāt- -ty ²; facility

Explanation

A faculty refers to any of your mental or physical abilities. If you lose your faculties, you are powerless. The faculty of a school is comprised of the people who work there. Lose them, and you have a different kind of problem. Faculty comes from the Old French word faculté, which means “skill, accomplishment, or learning.” You may have great faculties of memory, sight, mobility, charm, math, and musicality, but, as Beethoven was in the end, be robbed of your faculty of hearing. Any aptitude or ability — inborn or learned — that you have is a faculty. Also, if you go to school, your teachers make up the faculty of that school.

Example Sentences

“I think students need to think about their network broadly in that way: their faculty, their career center, and, if they’re in clubs, the adviser to the clubs and the other club members.”

From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026

DeShazier is the director of experiential education and affiliate faculty at McCormick Theological Institute, and senior pastor at University Church Chicago in Hyde Park.

From Salon • Apr. 6, 2026

Harvard’s faculty is set to vote next week on a proposal to cap the number of A’s per course, which now comprise more than half of undergraduate grades after years of inflation.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

"You often have undergraduates that are part of papers - faculty choose undergraduates all the time to work on papers and projects. But for an undergraduate to be the lead author is a huge deal."

From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2026

The other kids in the program were still in line to get their breakfasts, and behind us, Callaway was sitting at a small table with some of the other mountain faculty.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Related Words

• department
• institute
• personnel
• staff
• university