COLLEGE

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COLLEGE

Postby Dr. Goodword » Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:41 pm

• college •

Pronunciation: kah-lij • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. An independent institution of higher learning (above high school) or one incorporated into a university, usually granting BA or BA degrees, though some offer the MA and MS degrees, too. 2. An official body of persons united by common purpose, as an electoral college, a college of surgeons, or the college of cardinals.

Notes: Today's contributor wanted to know the relation between an educational college and an electoral college. Well, it isn't collegiality, though some members of both types of college may be collegial. Actually, the second sense of today's Good Word covers the first. Both comprise a group of colleagues, official in some sense, with a set purpose. Collegians are members of the first type of college. The adjective with that same meaning is collegiate.

In Play: College has an impact on all who succeed in acquiring a diploma: "College really changed my life: it left me broke." The recent retirement of Pope Benedict XVI will make it necessary to convene the College of Cardinals to elect a new pope. There is a growing sentiment that the United States should eliminate its electoral college in favor of a popular vote.

Word History: Today's Good Word was taken from Old French in exactly the state in which it was found: college "collegiate body". Old French inherited the word from Latin collegium "society, guild" from college "colleague", so the word originally meant "an association of colleagues". Colleague is someone you are in league with (col-) to accomplish a specific set of goals. This word is actually built on the Latin prefix col- "(together) with" + lex, legis "law", someone who was together with others by law, hence the "official" in our definition. Despite the similarity of this lex and the one in lexical they are not obviously related. In lexical derivations involving the other lex, the case form leg- seems to be preferred, because we see it in legislate, legal, and several other words having to do with law. (Today's Good Word was suggested by Vicki Bauer, a newly discovered colleague, in league with us in the discovery of interesting words.)
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Perry Lassiter
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Re: COLLEGE

Postby Perry Lassiter » Tue Feb 12, 2013 12:43 am

The relation of colleges to university interests me. A university is made up of colleges, but many colleges still stand alone. There is a broad sense of the term in which "colleges" include all institutions of higher learning, including universities. Another use of the word applies it to specialized trade schools such as a barber college or a beauty college. Some university students say, "I'm a university student," but others, perhaps most, refer to themselves as "college students."
pl

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Re: COLLEGE

Postby MTC » Tue Feb 12, 2013 8:04 am

In the interests of thoroughness, (Dr. G having listed 4 of 10 senses) here is the complete definition of the word:

col·lege (klj)
n.
1.
a. An institution of higher learning that grants the bachelor's degree in liberal arts or science or both.
b. An undergraduate division or school of a university offering courses and granting degrees in a particular field.
c. A school, sometimes but not always a university, offering special instruction in professional or technical subjects.
d. The students, faculty, and administration of such a school or institution.
e. The building or buildings occupied by such a school or institution.
f. Chiefly British A self-governing society of scholars for study or instruction, incorporated within a university.
g. An institution in France for secondary education that is not supported by the state.
2.
a. A body of persons having a common purpose or shared duties: a college of surgeons.
b. An electoral college.
3. A body of clerics living together on an endowment.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin collgium, association; see collegium.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

And by the by, the College of Cardinals will soon elect a new Pope after the current Pope voluntarily resigned, an event that last occurred 600 years ago according to CNN.

Welcome to our new colleague, Ms. Bauer.

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Re: COLLEGE

Postby LukeJavan8 » Tue Feb 12, 2013 2:07 pm

Gregory XII: 1400's.

I made a question somewhere on this site with
regard to Colleges and Universities.

I understand the meaning of both, I suppose.
But the relationship is still unclear.
Oxford in UK is a University.
And here we have a single building calling itself
a "university". Kaplan University, DeVry, another,
advertise themselves as universities. They seem
to be more colleges, and it seems to downgrade
such venerable institutes like Oxford.
Maybe it is just me.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

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Re: COLLEGE

Postby LukeJavan8 » Tue Feb 12, 2013 2:12 pm

-----please, draw me a sheep-----

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Re: COLLEGE

Postby Slava » Tue Feb 12, 2013 4:12 pm

I made a question somewhere on this site with regard to Colleges and Universities.

I understand the meaning of both, I suppose. But the relationship is still unclear.
Oxford in UK is a University.
And here we have a single building calling itself a "university". Kaplan University, DeVry, another, advertise themselves as universities. They seem to be more colleges, and it seems to downgrade such venerable institutes like Oxford.
Maybe it is just me.
I'd go for it being part of the battle between Brit- and Amer-English.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

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Re: COLLEGE

Postby Philip Hudson » Tue Feb 12, 2013 4:14 pm

Re: Colleges and universities.

We have seen in the Good Doctor's definition and in our comments what college means. Each comment is well received.

The obvious root of the word university is the same as universe. Is a university an institution that teaches everything in the Universe? Right away, we see there is a stretch between the ideal and the reality of a university.

No one has a patent on the word university. There are accrediting agencies that put their seal of approval on Universities. I could start Redneck U, unaccredited and totally useless. Would I in any way diminish Oxford University of England? I don't think so. Oxford is safe from any machination I might introduce.

Is Phoenix University a real university? By the standards of the great universities of the world it may not measure up. Having a brother and a cousin who are professors for Phoenix University, I see it meeting certain educational needs. It is not a diploma mill.

I went to three different educational institutions when I was in "college" or "university". Only one was called a university. The other two are now called universities. Have they undergone some marvelous transformations since I haunted their hallowed halls? They are larger now, but they are much the same.

A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet. Redneck U. would stink whatever name I chose. Caveat emptor.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

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Re: COLLEGE

Postby LukeJavan8 » Tue Feb 12, 2013 9:36 pm

Heh,heh!
-----please, draw me a sheep-----


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