university

noun

uni·​ver·​si·​ty ˌyü-nə-ˈvər-sə-tē 

-ˈvər-stē

plural universities

1

: an institution of higher learning providing facilities for teaching and research and authorized to grant academic degrees

specifically : one made up of an undergraduate division which confers bachelor's degrees and a graduate division which comprises a graduate school and professional schools each of which may confer master's degrees and doctorates

2

: the physical plant of a university

Examples of university in a Sentence

I applied to several public universities.

He lives near the university.

Recent Examples on the Web

Teams operate as part of the university and under the governance of the NCAA. —Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 23 Jan. 2025

Instead, the hardline Islamist group has done an about-face and banned women from going to university, closed secondary schools and beauty salons, and stopped women from working at NGOs, including at the United Nations. —Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, 23 Jan. 2025

Is one of these companies, or maybe one that is not even a company yet, but just in the heads of physicists somewhere in one of the tech universities around the world, the next big thing? —Vineer Bhansali, Forbes, 23 Jan. 2025

Marcy Thompson: To put these hoops in perspective, in 1897, Margarethe was one of three female students who were enrolled to study for an academic degree at the university. —Marcy Thompson, Scientific American, 23 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English universite, from Anglo-French université, from Medieval Latin universitat-, universitas, from Latin universus

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing university

• anti-university
• go to university
• inter-university
• pre-university
• state university

Kids Definition

university

noun

uni·​ver·​si·​ty ˌyü-nə-ˈvər-sət-ē 

-ˈvər-stē

plural universities

: a school that offers courses leading to a degree (as a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree) and where research is done