# college

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈkɒlɪd͡ʒ/ · frequency rank #538

## Definitions
1. An academic institution.
2. An academic institution.
3. An academic institution.
4. An academic institution.
5. An academic institution.
6. An academic institution.
7. An academic institution.
8. An academic institution.
9. An academic institution.
10. An academic institution.
11. An academic institution.
12. An academic institution.
13. A group of people sharing common purposes or goals, especially ecclesiastics or professionals; a corporate group; a group of colleagues.
14. An electoral college.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *ḱe
Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm
Proto-Italic *kom
Proto-Italic *kom-
Latin con-
Proto-Indo-European *leǵ-der.?
Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-der.?
Proto-Italic *lēks
Latin lēx
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
Proto-Italic *-āō
Latin -ō
Latin lēgō
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂
Proto-Italic *-ā
Latin -a
Latin collēga
Proto-Indo-European *-yós
Proto-Italic *-ios
Old Latin -ios
Latin -ius
Latin -ium
Latin collēgiumbor.
Old French college
Middle French collegebor.
Middle English college
English college
From Middle English college, from Middle French college, from Old French college, from Latin collēgium. Doublet of collegium.

## Easily confused with
- **collie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/college-vs-collie)
- **collide** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/college-vs-collide)
- **colleges** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/college-vs-colleges)
- **collect** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/collect-vs-college)
- **collage** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/collage-vs-college)
- **Colleen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/colleen-vs-college)
- **collagen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/collagen-vs-college)
- **colleague** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/colleague-vs-college)

## Common misspellings (8)
`ccollege`, `clolege`, `colege`, `colelge`, `colleeg`, `collegge`, `collgee`, `ocllege`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/college