colleague
noun
col·league
ˈkä-(ˌ)lēg 
: an associate or coworker typically in a profession or in a civil or ecclesiastical office and often of similar rank or status : a fellow worker or professional
Did you know?
Which of the following words come from the same source as colleague: college, legacy, collaborate, allegation, collar, relegate, delegate? It might be easier to guess if you know that the ancestor in question is legare, a Latin verb meaning "to choose or send as a deputy or emissary" or "to bequeath." All of the words in the list above except collaborate (which comes from the Latin collaborare, meaning "to labor together") and collar (from collum, collus, Latin for "neck") are descendants of legare.
Examples of colleague in a Sentence
Not since Cronkite's CBS mentor and colleague Edward R. Murrow lifted Senator Joe McCarthy by the skunk tail for public inspection had one TV broadcast reflected such a fateful climate change in public opinion.
—
James Wolcott, Vanity Fair, June 2003
My colleague Gene Sperling and I were standing over my speakerphone, but for all Mario Cuomo knew we were on our knees.
—George Stephanopoulos, Newsweek, 15 Mar. 1999
Nineteenth-century naturalist Thomas Henry Huxley, a colleague of Charles Darwin, was the first to suggest that dinosaurs and birds were related.
—Laura Tangley, U.S. News & World Report, 6 July 1998
… it gets noticed no more than an hour later by another colleague of mine, whom I've never met personally but know to be an art historian …
—John Barth, Atlantic, March 1995
A colleague of mine will be speaking at the conference.
on her first day at work her colleagues went out of their way to make her feel welcome
James Wolcott, Vanity Fair, June 2003
My colleague Gene Sperling and I were standing over my speakerphone, but for all Mario Cuomo knew we were on our knees.
—George Stephanopoulos, Newsweek, 15 Mar. 1999
Nineteenth-century naturalist Thomas Henry Huxley, a colleague of Charles Darwin, was the first to suggest that dinosaurs and birds were related.
—Laura Tangley, U.S. News & World Report, 6 July 1998
… it gets noticed no more than an hour later by another colleague of mine, whom I've never met personally but know to be an art historian …
—John Barth, Atlantic, March 1995
A colleague of mine will be speaking at the conference.
on her first day at work her colleagues went out of their way to make her feel welcome
Recent Examples on the Web
The Virginia lawmaker cited his 15 years in office as a key reason his Democratic colleagues backed him over Ocasio-Cortez.
—Ewan Palmer, Newsweek, 19 Dec. 2024
How: Collaborate with security colleagues to implement the DMARC protocol and test Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) to help protect your brand, bolster customer trust, and defend against phishing.
—Forrester, Forbes, 18 Dec. 2024
As lawmakers stare down a Friday deadline to fund the government, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Tuesday worked to reassure his colleagues there’s compromise in sight.
—Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 18 Dec. 2024
Within the scientific community, there have been disagreements about the moon’s precise age for decades; Nimmo and his colleagues are not the first to put forward an older estimate.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 18 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for colleague 
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Ewan Palmer, Newsweek, 19 Dec. 2024
How: Collaborate with security colleagues to implement the DMARC protocol and test Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) to help protect your brand, bolster customer trust, and defend against phishing.
—Forrester, Forbes, 18 Dec. 2024
As lawmakers stare down a Friday deadline to fund the government, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Tuesday worked to reassure his colleagues there’s compromise in sight.
—Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 18 Dec. 2024
Within the scientific community, there have been disagreements about the moon’s precise age for decades; Nimmo and his colleagues are not the first to put forward an older estimate.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 18 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for colleague
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Dictionary Entries Near colleague
Cite this Entry
“Colleague.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colleague. Accessed 25 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
colleague
noun
col·league
ˈkäl-ˌēg
: an associate in a profession or office
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