Universities

Universities

Noun (plural) · /ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːsɪtɪz/ · plural of university — institutions of higher education and research

Definition

Universities is the plural of university — institutions that provide higher education leading to academic degrees, and that conduct research. A university is typically composed of multiple faculties or departments covering arts, sciences, engineering, medicine, law, and more. When we say universities, we are speaking of these institutions collectively: a country's universities, the world's best universities, ancient universities founded in the medieval period, or modern research universities built in the twentieth century.

Origin

The word comes from the Latin universitas, meaning the whole body or corporation of persons — used specifically for guilds and associations. The first universities — Bologna, Oxford, Paris — used it to mean the community of scholars and students as a corporate body. Over time, universitas shifted from meaning the people to meaning the institution that housed them. The plural universities has been in English since the sixteenth century.