universityn.
/ˌjuːnᵻˈvəːsᵻti/, U.S. /ˌjunəˈvərsədi/ 1.
a. An institution of higher education offering tuition in mainly non-vocational subjects and typically having the power to confer degrees. Also: the members, colleges, buildings, etc., of such an institution collectively. In later use also in prepositional phrases without article, as at university, to university (see to go to university at Phrases 2), etc.In the Middle Ages: a body of teachers and students engaged in giving and receiving instruction in the higher branches of study (cf. trivium n. 1, quadrivium n. 2) and regarded as a scholastic guild or corporation; an organized body of schools (see school n.1 12a). Later: an institution offering degree courses and research facilities, typically providing some accommodation and other amenities for its students.For the various distinctions between university and college, see college n. 4. Cf. also polytechnic n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > place of education > [noun]
schoolOE
universityc1300
academyc1550
nursery1581
training place1581
seminarya1604
cathedral1644
teaching house1849
separate school1852
nursing home1880
stable1942
society > education > place of education > college or university > [noun] > university
universityc1300
general studya1382
schoolsc1400
college1459
ninneversitya1592
studium1610
studium generale1647
versityc1680
varsity1846
Univ1896
uni1898
U1910
c1300 St. Edmund Rich (Harl.) l. 248 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S. Eng. Legendary (1956) 500 So þat he bigan at Oxenford of diuinite, So noble alosed þer nas non in al þe vniuersite.
c1300 St. Edmund Rich (Harl.) l. 270 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S. Eng. Legendary (1956) 501 He bigan so deope desputi of þe Trinite Þat gret wonder me hadde þurf al þe vniuersite.
?c1430 (c1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 157 Heþene mennus lawis and worldly clerkis statutis ben red in vnyuersitees.
a1475 in A. Clark Eng. Reg. Godstow Nunnery (1906) ii. 438 The house..that Robert of Staunton held of the vnyuersite of Oxenford.
a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) viii. 1517 In þe Vniuersite Off Oxynfurde scho gert be A [collage] fowndyt.
1509 J. Fisher Mornynge Remembraunce Countesse of Rychemonde (de Worde) sig. Bii The studyentes of bothe the vnyuersytees.
1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Familye of Loue f. 40 They labour to put out the eyes of this land (the Vniuersityes I meane).
1644 J. Milton Of Educ. 3 This place should be at once both School and University.
1661 Lamplugh in Extracts State Papers (Friends' Hist. Soc.) (1911) 2nd Ser. 126 University, Town and Country are far more active and vigilant then before.
1702 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) V. 145 A patent..for founding an university.., to be called king Williams university.
1785 J. Adams Wks. (1854) IX. 530 He is anxious to study some time at your university [sc. Harvard College] before he begins the study of law.
1841 T. Carlyle On Heroes v. 260 Universities are a notable, respectable product of the modern ages.
1868 M. Pattison Suggestions Acad. Organisation 46 The university of the chancellor, masters, and scholars, is one corporation, and each of the colleges distinct and independent societies.
1901 Dict. National Biogr. (Suppl.) at Lindsay, James Bowman While at university he had become interested in comparative philology.
1962 Engineering 13 July 57/2 The 1-3-1 type of ‘thick sandwich’ course (one year in industry, three years at university, and one year in industry again).
1968 New Society 22 Aug. 266/2 ‘He's at university’ (very widely used) is certainly non-U.
1993 Maclean's 9 Nov. 34/1 As universities have grown more accessible, cash-strapped governments have slashed their funding.
b. In extended use. Cf. the university of life at Phrases 3a.
ΚΠ
1564 W. Bullein Dialogue against Fever Pestilence f. 46 You learned your Retorike in the vniuersitee of Bridewell: you were neuer well wormed, when you were young.
1584 T. Lodge Alarum against Vsurers f. 4v From a sworne souldier of the Muses, thou art become a master in the vniuersitie of loue.
1595 W. S. Lamentable Trag. Locrine iii. iii I think you were broght vp in the vniuersitie of bridewell; you haue your rhetorick so ready at your toongs end.
1607 S. Hieron Life & Death Dorcas in Wks. (1620) I. 386 To be admitted into that great vniuersitie, where He, which is the doctour of the chaire, Christ Iesus, will [etc.].
1652 E. Benlowes Theophila ii. xiii. 25 Man,..by 'Infusion wise;..Chanc'lour install'd of Edens Universitie.
1704 B. Mandeville Typhon 31 Famous University Of Bridewell; where unwillingly The Damsels learn, when Income fails, To use their Hands, and save their Tails.
1747 D. Garrick Miss in her Teens ii. 26 The Camp is my University; I have attended the Lectures of Prince Charles upon the Rhine, and Bathiani upon the Po, and have extracted Knowledge from the Mouth of a Cannon.
c1852 J. Gibson in Biog. (1911) iii. 28 He looked upon Rome as the great University of Sculpture.
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 215 None of these young gentlemen was absolutely necessary at that ovine university [sc. a sheep station].
1913 Times 25 July 5/1 A prison was a university of crime.
1994 Scotsman (Nexis) 11 May He was immediately hugged by his old friend, Walter Sisulu, a fellow graduate of the University of Robben Island.
2005 T. Hall Salaam Brick Lane vi. 125 I learned later that the library was known to the East End Jews as the ‘University of the Poor’.
2. † b. The entirety of something; all things, all creation. Obsolete.† c. The whole world; the universe. Cf. universality n. 6b. Obsolete.† d. The whole people, the masses; = universality n. 6a(b). Obsolete. rare.
a. The whole body or number of a specified group or class (esp. an extensive one, as creatures, things, etc.). Also figurative. Cf. universality n. 6a. rare after 18th cent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > the whole or all > [noun] > the whole quantity, number, or amount
fullOE
suma1382
universitya1382
your university1385
wholea1393
amountment?a1400
wholenessa1425
hale1437
aggregatec1443
rate1472
total1557
the whole ware1563
lump1576
gross1579
totality1598
universarya1604
general1608
population1612
amount1615
totum1656
totea1772
complete1790
factorial1869
collectivity1882
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Tobit viii. 19 That the vnyuersite of Jentilis knowe, for thou art God alone in al erthe.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Royal) (1850) James iii. 6 Oure tunge is fijr, the vniuersite of wickidnesse [L. universitas iniquitatis].
a1450 Quixley's Ballades in Yorks. Archæol. Jrnl. (1909) 20 50 (MED) To all þe worldes vniversitee This balade be ensample and myrrour.
1494 W. Hilton Scala Perfeccionis (de Worde) ii. xlvi. sig. siv Al thise gracyous knowynges felid in a soule of ye vnyuersitee of al creatures.
?1510 T. More tr. G. Pico della Mirandola in tr. G. F. Pico della Mirandola Lyfe I. Picus sig. e.iii Yf ony parte of ye hole vniuersite of creatures were distroied.
1563 J. Man tr. W. Musculus Common Places Christian Relig. 29 b All that compasse of the whole universitie of thinges and times.
1581 W. Fulke in A. Nowell et al. True Rep. Disput. E. Campion (1584) iii. sig. O iv b The vniuersitie of faithfull doeth pray.
1604 T. Wright Passions of Minde (new ed.) vi. 304 The vniversity of Beastes, foules, and fish.
1659 H. Thorndike Wks. (1846) II. 483 If in all Scripture..a Church signify the university of Christians.
1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. IV iv. 180 The Communitie or Universitie of the Multitude.
1702 H. Mackworth Princ. of Member of Black List i. 28 That He [sc. the Deity] should live in this wide University of things, and in every part of it, and yet..have no more influence upon it, than if he were a dead and senceless Idol, is altogether inconceivable.
1719 Z. Marryat Exalted Saviour ix. 57 He, from whom every Creature in the whole University of Beings took its beginning, himself never had any [peculiar and undeceiving Mark].
1862 G. Long tr. M. Aurelius Thoughts p. lxxvi The gods will do whatever is best and consistent with the university of things.
1941 E. R. Eddison Fish Dinner xv. 275 Not this world: I mean all the whole university of things and beings and times.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > [noun] > as God's creation
universityc1384
creation1601
the world > relative properties > wholeness > the whole or all > [noun]
everydeala1300
universityc1384
universal?c1400
the whole ofc1450
alpha and omega1526
entire1597
be-alla1616
all1619
totalitya1631
all-hood1722
entirety1856
totalnessc1864
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Macc. xiv. 35 Thou, Lord of vnyuersitee, or of alle creatures.
?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) v. pr. iv. l. 4781 Þe eye of intelligence is heyȝer [than reason] for it sourmounteþ þe envirounynge of þe vniuersite and lookeþ ouer þat by pure subtilite of þouȝt.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1869) II. 205 For God knowethe how euery thynge awe to be create, and how he scholde dispose the pulcritude of the vniversite in hit.
1502 tr. Ordynarye of Crysten Men (de Worde) i. iv. sig. d.vi By the nombre of seuen..vniuersyte to vs is sygnifyed.
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer i. f. cccxxxiiiiv Man is made of al the foure elementes. Al vnyuersytee is rekened in hym alone.
1610 J. Healey tr. J. L. Vives in tr. St. Augustine Citie of God viii. ix. 314 Where euer they liue, they may finde a god the gouernor and father of all vniuersity.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > [noun]
kindlOE
worldc1175
framea1325
creaturec1384
universityc1450
engine?1510
universal1569
universality1577
mass1587
universe1589
all1598
cosmosie1600
macrocosm1602
existence1610
system1610
megacosm1617
cosmos1650
materialism1817
world-all1847
panarchy1848
multiverse1895
metaverse1994
c1450 ( J. Walton tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Linc. Cathedral 103) 171 O fader þat gouernest wondirly This hole worldly vniuersite [L. mundum].
1494 Hylton's Scala Perf. (W. de W.) ii. xlvi. sig. siv Our lorde Jhesu maker & keper of al this fayr vnyuersitee.
1598 T. Bastard Chrestoleros i. iv. 4 Man is a little world and beares the face And picture of the Vniuersitie.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. i. 17 In Sixe Dayes [God] form'd..All things contain'd in th' Vniversitie.
a1620 M. Fotherby Atheomastix (1622) ii. x. §1. 299 This Vnity: which they make the onely cause of the whole vniuersity.
1642 H. More Ψυχωδια Platonica sig. B8v Physis is the great womb From whence all things in th' Universitie Yclad in diverse forms do gaily bloom.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > people collectively > [noun] > all people
all the worldOE
all ledea1275
more and minc1275
most and leasta1300
much and litec1330
mo and lessc1426
the whole world1530
cut and long tail1576
universal1596
general1604
universality1606
university1677
all outdoors1833
John Q.1937
1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. III iii. i. v. 181 That the first invention..of Laws may be committed to prudent men; and yet the..confirmation of them appertain to the universitie or common multitude.
e. Law. The whole of the legal privileges, obligations, etc., belonging to a particular individual, regarded collectively; frequently in university of rights and duties. Now historical and rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal concepts > [noun] > aggregates of rights and duties
university1832
1832 J. Austin Outline in Province Jurispr. p. xli Such universities of rights and duties (or such complex aggregates of rights and duties) as arise by universal succession.
a1859 J. Austin Lect. Jurispr. (1863) III. i. 50 It forms a part of the university of his rights, and is therefore likely to be aliened for debts, etc.
1861 H. S. Maine Anc. Law vi. 178 The tie which so connects..all these legal privileges and duties together..is the fact of their having attached to some individual capable of exercising them. Without this fact there is no university of rights and duties.
1968 Amer. Anthropologist 70 265/2 Maine believed that the social condition of the individual in ancient times can best be conceived as a university of rights acquired solely through family membership.
3. † a. A company of persons associated together for some purpose. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > [noun] > group associated for common purpose
covinc1330
lyancec1380
university?1473
army1540
band1557
union1603
coalescence1609
confederation1621
associationa1658
confederacy1681
federation1791
brigade1806
united front1807
class movement1839
company1839
paction1877
combine1889
protest movement1898
protest group1920
minority movement1923
we1926
power1966
?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) II. lf. 308 Hit is leeffful þt an vnyuersite answere not alway to one maister.
b. A body or class of persons regarded collectively; esp. an association of persons forming a corporate body or society, a corporation, a guild. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > an association, society, or organization > types of association, society, or organization > [noun] > corporation or body corporate
towna1382
body corporate1461
corporation1579
corporalty1603
university1607
individual1828
communitas1841
society > society and the community > social relations > an association, society, or organization > types of association, society, or organization > [noun] > guild of medieval origin
guild?a1000
guildshipa1000
company1389
fellowship1418
commonalty1423
commonality1648
mastership1822
university2000
1607 J. Cowell Interpreter sig. Zzz2v/1 Vniversitie..is by the Ciuill lawe any bodie politicke, or corporation.
1643 W. Prynne Soveraigne Power Parl. App. 159 Although kings doe die, the people in the mean time (as niether any other Universitie) never dyeth.
1678 G. Mackenzie Laws & Customes Scotl. i. 19 A collective body of people, or university, such as a Burgh, or Incorporation.
1752 A. McDouall Inst. Laws Scotl. II. 37 An university or corporation may present, by their administrators, or a commissioner.
1755 N. Magens Ess. Insurances II. 40 The Prior and Consuls..of the University of the Shippers and Merchants..of this City of Seville.
1843 Penny Cycl. XXVI. 22/2 The universities or corporate bodies at Rome.
2000 A. Walford tr. A. Vauchez Encycl. Middle Ages 251/1 The merchants of Burgos, organised into a ‘university of merchants’, controlled the export of wool, encouraged the creation of fairs, and imported cloth, silks and works of art.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > [noun] > generality or prevalence > universality
universality?c1400
university1553
universalness1561
universalty1567
epidemicalness1646
allnessa1649
epidemicity1716
universalism1835
catholicity1868
globality1931
1553 R. Ascham Let. 24 Mar. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eminent Lit. Men (1843) 18 My trust is ye will not judge me unconstant, for this universitie in choice of my living.
1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. III iii. ii. iv. 270 Al perfection importes some kind of universitie.
1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. III iii. ii. iv. 271 Now God having the whole of essence in himself must necessarily have an universitie of perfection.
Phrases
P1. † your university n. Obsolete (chiefly Scottish) the collective whole of the members of a body or group of persons addressed in a formal or official document; ‘all of you’. Also in plural. [Chiefly in renderings of the common post-classical Latin phrase Noverit universitas vestra (frequently from mid 12th cent. in British sources).]
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > the whole or all > [noun] > the whole quantity, number, or amount
fullOE
suma1382
universitya1382
your university1385
wholea1393
amountment?a1400
wholenessa1425
hale1437
aggregatec1443
rate1472
total1557
the whole ware1563
lump1576
gross1579
totality1598
universarya1604
general1608
population1612
amount1615
totum1656
totea1772
complete1790
factorial1869
collectivity1882
1385 in W. Fraser Red Bk. Menteith (1880) II. 260 Tyl yhur vniversite be wyttyn that my redoutyt lorde, Sir Robert Stewart.
c1400 Brut (Rawl. B. 171) 163 To alle..Cristen peple..Iohn, by þe grace of God, Kyng of Engeland, gretyng to ȝour vniuersite.
1416 in C. Innes Liber Sancte Marie de Melros (1837) 539 Wit yhoure vniuersite þat [etc.].
1473 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1869) I. 26 Heirfoir it is that to your vniuersiteis we mak it knawin [etc.].
1500 in J. Cooper Cartularium Eccl. St. Nicholai Aberdonensis (1888) I. 76 Till all ande sindry..gretinge in gode euirlesting Ȝoure vniuersiteis sall wit ws..till hafen consentit [etc.].
1543 in J. W. Clay Testamenta Eboracensia (1902) VI. 161 Knowe your universitie, that I..do make my last will of certayne my landes.
c1596 in Abstr. Protocols Town Clerks of Glasgow (1897) V. Pref. 16 To all and sindry..gretyng... Wittis your universiteis that [etc.].
P2. to go to (the, a) university: to attend or begin a course of higher education at a university.
ΚΠ
1561 H. Bennet tr. P. Melanchthon Hyst. Lyfe & Actes M. Luther in Famous & Godly Hist. Three Reformers sig. B.iiiv Hauyng then tasted the sweetenes of learning, as he was prone ther vnto: he went to an Vniuersitye [L. appetit Academiam].
1608 R. Kilby Burthen of Loaden Conscience 82 I went to the Vniuersitie verie rawe: for I had fewe groundes of grammar, and none of grace.
1650 T. Grantham Oct. 22 1649 9 Their Schollers before they go to University come to me a Moneth or two to be oyled over.
1708 J. Byrom Let. Feb. in Private Jrnl. & Lit. Remains (1854) I. 2 I think it not prudence to go to University too soon.
1775 S. Palmer Calamy's Nonconformist's Memorial I. 396 He was bred to trade, but afterwards went to the university.
1848 J. H. Newman Loss & Gain i. i. 2 Boys..go to the University, and suddenly plunge into excesses.
1878 Densonian Nov. 68/2 Suppose a man intends to go to University—he is just beginning his studies when [etc.].
1959 Listener 22 Jan. 153/2 Is the son of a miner working-class, suppose he has gone to university.
1963 H. Garner in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories (1968) 2nd Ser. 49 He had graduated from technical high, and was going to university in the fall.
2013 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 27 July (Weekend section) 13 Each year, around 160,000 British 18 year-olds take a year out before going to university or getting a job.
P3.
a. the university of life: (also with capital initials) the experience of life regarded as a means of instruction, in contrast to formal (higher) education. Cf. the school of (the) hard knocks at school n.1 Phrases 9.Now often with the implication that life experience is of greater benefit than formal education.
ΚΠ
1854 C. C. Felton Addr. Assoc. Alumni Harvard College 7 The late Professor Greenleaf,..who, not born to affluence, and not bred up to scholarly studies, achieved an honorable scholarship in the university of life.
1887 W. D. Lighthall Thoughts, Moods & Ideals 22 Once, in the University of Life, Remember and Inquire, my old Professors.
1920 Biblical World 54 255/2 The courses in the University of Life are long and hard.
1972 L. Meynell Death by Arrangement i. 9 The spires of Oxford could go on dreaming..for all he cared; he set about getting himself a degree in the university of life.
1993 Independent 4 Feb. 16/2 The University of Life has more to offer than fancy business schools.
b.
University of the Air n. (a) an organization which provides courses of (esp. higher) education partly through radio and television broadcasts; spec. (an early name for) the Open University (see open university n. at open adj. Compounds 3); (b) (colloquial) a flying school or a college of aeronautical engineering (rare).
ΘΚΠ
society > education > place of education > college or university > [noun] > university > specific university
Oxon.c1439
Oxford1455
Sorbonne1560
aunt1625
T.C.D.1831
other place1899
open university1902
U.C.L.a1912
University of the Air1922
U.C.L.A.1941
U.C.D.1955
OU1969
open1970
College of the Air1977
society > travel > air or space travel > action of flying (in) aircraft > training > [noun] > school or university
flying school1894
University of the Air1922
1922 Radio Broadcast May 45/2 The people's University of the Air will have a greater student body than all of our universities put together. The educational application of radio is an immense field so far untouched.
1928 Los Angeles Times 7 Sept. i. 2/4 The company..will establish aviation schools through the country in addition to three so-called universities of the air for the advance training of aviators.
1931 Civil & Milit. Gaz. (Lahore) 4 Nov. 2/3 To meet the demand for trained and competent personnel..the College of Aeronautical Engineering has been formed—the University of the Air.
1963 Glasgow Herald 9 Sept. 1/1 Mr Wilson..suggested the broadcasting time for the ‘university of the air’ could be obtained by allocation of the fourth television channel.
1969 Radio Times 27 Nov. 12 Originally named ‘the University of the Air’, the Open University offers an exciting new opportunity.
1997 Nikkei Weekly (Japan) (Nexis) 27 Jan. 20 Shigefumi Nagano, a professor of developmental psychology at the University of the Air in Chiba, estimates that average IQ scores have increased about 10 points over the last 20 years.
Compounds
(In sense 1). C1.
a. General attributive, as university campus, university course, university degree, university education, university entrance, university grant, university lecture, university library, university oath, university teaching, university town, etc.; university-level adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > place of education > college or university > [adjective] > university
university1374
universitarian1834
universitary1839
1374 in H. E. Salter Cartulary Oseney Abbey (1929) I. 231 De Aula..nunc le Uniuersitehalle nuncupata.
1379 Petition in Rotuli Parl. (1767–77) III. 69/1 Son College appellez Mokel Universite Halle en Oxenford.
1590 R. Harvey Plaine Percevall sig. D He will..praise him, that he is not infected with..Vniuersitie learning.
1602 2nd Pt. Returne fr. Parnassus iv. v. 1806 Few of the university pen plaies well.
1623 W. Lisle in tr. Ælfric Saxon Treat. Old & New Test. f. e 3 I meane ere long to let the world know what is more remaining; as more I have seene both in our Universitie Libraries, and that of Sir Robert Cotton.
1653 J. Sedgwick Serm. preached at St. Marie's 26 That University Habits and Degrees are lawfull, and speake nothing of Antichristianisme.
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1673 (1955) IV. 5 University lectures, & erudition.
1700 D. Irish Levamen Infirmi 31 Others, who..have added to their Skill in Languages the dazeling addition of an University Degree.
1721 J. Swift Let. to Young Gentleman 26 You cannot but have already observed, what a violent Run there is among too many weak People against University Education.
1758 Vinerian Stat. in W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. (1765) I. 29 Such misbehaviour as shall amount to bannition by the university statutes.
1783 Encycl. Brit. X. 8753/2 The jurisdiction of the university-courts in criminal matters.
1823 J. S. Mill in Morning Chron. 8 Feb. 3/1 The violation of the University oath..is a complete proof that the ceremony of swearing affords no security whatever for veracity in any other case.
1856 J. W. Donaldson Classical Scholarship & Classical Learning ii. 72 I have endeavoured to show that Classics and Mathematics..are still the best foundation of University teaching.
1857 C. M. Yonge Dynevor Terrace I. v. 68 Fitzjocelyn was twenty-one, and had nearly finished his university education.
1869 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Agric. 1868 140 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (40th Congr., 3rd Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc.) XV Students enter upon the university course with a certain preparation.
1895 H. Rashdall Univ. Europe in Middle Ages II. ii. 325 Another essential qualification for a University town..is facility of access.
1920 Science 23 July 77/1 The new standing committee on university grants..is inadequate as regards composition and reference.
1939 Nature 26 Aug. 392/1 Frome Avenue, on the opposite side of which is the University campus.
1957 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 941/2 The relationship between the G.C.E. and university entrance qualifications had in the early 1950s reached only a temporary definition.
1962 E. Snow Other Side of River (1963) xxx. 226 Among full~term university-level students 283,000 were engineers.
1962 C. Barber in F. Behre Contrib. Eng. Syntax 21 Those countries where a great deal of university-teaching is carried out in English.
1983 Chron. Higher Educ. 19 Oct. 1 More and more university libraries are charging fees for interlibrary loans.
1992 S. Box Power, Crime & Mystification 2 Only 0.05 per cent of people received into prison have obtained a university degree.
2000 Investor Nov. (Pract. Investm. Guide Suppl.) 24/3 Funding for university fees is being restricted.
b. attributive, with the sense ‘that is (or has been) a member of a university; educated or studying at a university’, as university man, university scholar, university student, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > [adjective] > educated or taught > educated at college or university
university?1544
university-bred1660
college-bred1844
?1544 J. Bale Epist. Exhortatorye f. v Which practise they occupye to this daye by their hyred sophisters or vniuersyte knyghtes to blemishe his heauenly verite.
1570 J. Dee in H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. Math. Præf. sig. Aiijv Being vnlatined people, and not Vniuersitie Scholers.
1580 G. Harvey in E. Spenser & G. Harvey Three Proper & Wittie Lett. 23 Some learned, and well aduized Uniuersitie man.
1641 R. Greville Disc. Nature Episcopacie ii. vii. 111 They thinke the wayes of Gods Spirit are free, and not tied to a University man.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) at Servitour A poor University-Scholar that attends others for his Maintenance.
1755 Man No. 13. 4 An university chum of mine.
1787 T. Lindsey Let. 8 Mar. (2007) I. 501 None of the former yet come into Town, except presents; I mean his Letters to a philosophical unbeliever, and Addresses to Dr Horne, the university-Student, & to Dr Price.
1818 T. Ward Strictures Char. Barristers (ed. 2) 45 The Nobility and Gentry visiting Oxford, the latter of whom are known by the University men by the appellation of Lions and Lioness's.
1862 H. Mayhew & J. Binny Criminal Prisons of London 68 Surely, too, Lee, the university scholar, has given more stockings to the poor, by the invention of his ‘frame’, than all the knitters that ever lived.
1914 G. B. Shaw Parents & Children in Misalliance p. lxv An office boy of fifteen is often more of a man than a university student of twenty.
1981 A. Edwards Sonya iii. 45 Putting his school in the hands of a young university student who had become his assistant.
1993 Harper's Mag. Nov. 4/2 An arrogant old fart who imagines he's doing young university women a favor by deflowering them!
c. attributive, in the names of officials, etc., attached to or connected with a university, as university auditor, university don, university lecturer, university librarian, university orator (see orator n. 5), university professor, university register, university staff, university teacher, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > place of education > college or university > [adjective] > university > attached to or connected with
university1589
1589 T. Nashe To Students in R. Greene Menaphon Epist. sig. **4 That royall erection of Trinitie Colledge, which the Vniuersitie Orator..aptlie tearmed Colona diducta.
1614 J. Chamberlain in R. F. Williams Birch's Court & Times James I (1848) (modernized text) I. 305 The University Orator, Nethersole,..is taxed for calling the prince Jacobissime Carole.
1631 J. Milton (title) On the University Carrier who sicken'd in the time of his vacancy.
a1679 Earl of Orrery Mr. Anthony (1690) i. 4 Do you not see this University Professor, which pretends to know every Tongue, has lost the use of his own.
1708 J. Chamberlayne Magnæ Britanniæ Notitia (1710) i. iii. 298 The Custos Archivorum, or University-Register.
1781 Gen. Hist. Irel. I. 214 The fellows are better appointed, perhaps, than any university teachers in Europe.
1800 Cambr. Univ. Cal. 6 University Officers [include] Chancellor,..High Steward,..Vice-Chancellor [etc.].
1882 Addenda Corpus Statutorum Universitatis Oxoniensis ii. 882/2 The University Auditor appointed under the provisions of the Statute.
1893 Glasgow Univ. Cal. 19 Lecturers, Demonstrators, or University Assistants.
1907 G. B. Shaw Major Barbara iii. in John Bull's Other Island 277 How can you succeed in business when you are willing to pay all that money to a University don who is obviously not worth a junior clerk's wages!
1948 M. Laski Tory Heaven iv. 54 The White Paper analysing the origins and opinions of University staffs appalled the whole nation.
1971 A. H. Halsey & M. A. Trow Brit. Academics xv. 413 We see the results in their university teacher children.
1977 M. Kenyon Rapist iv. 42 Miss Hitchcock, a university professor, arrived in Ireland only yesterday.
1992 Times Higher Educ. Suppl. 27 Mar. 2/4 Liberal Democrat policies have won over a fifth of academics, gaining most support from university lecturers.
d. Locative, with past and present participles forming adjectives, as university-bred, university-educated, university-going, university-taught, university-trained.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > [adjective] > educated or taught > educated at college or university
university?1544
university-bred1660
college-bred1844
society > education > learning > [adjective] > going to university
university-going1898
1660 S. Fisher Rusticus ad Academicos iii. iii. 62 Proud Pharisaical Praters, as Vniversity-bred Schollars, stubborn Students, and rebellious Rabbies.
1761 St. James Chron. 25 Apr. in Yearly Chron. (1762) 60 Thus, Sir, did this university-taught gentleman drawl through the whole service, like the drone of a bag-pipe.
1826 Monthly Rev. Apr. 400 Such works are only adapted for the use of school-boys, and undeserving of the serious perusal of university-bred full-grown men.
1898 Edinb. Rev. Jan. 121 The university-going class among the Roman Catholic community.
1923 R. Macaulay Told by Idiot i. 44 No creature was ever more solemn, more earnest,..than the university-educated young female of the eighties.
1981 J. Halkin Fatal Odds iii. 49 Well-heeled families, university-educated.
1996 L. Scanlan Heading Home ix. 193 Home-based educators tend to be university-trained, religious and self-employed.
C2.
university cap n. an academic cap worn by the members of a university on formal occasions; a mortar board.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > cap > types of > denoting office or profession > academic
four-cornered capc1440
corner-cap1566
cornered cap1583
square cap1584
cap1611
university cap1646
trencher-cap1721
trencher1834
muffin cap1837
mortarboard1854
house cap1863
colleger1889
square1928
1646 T. Blount in tr. H. Estienne Art of making Devises Ep. Ded. sig. a An armed man, hewing off the corners of an University Cap with his sword.
1772 T. Nugent tr. J. F. de Isla Hist. Friar Gerund I. 73 Heads stuck in university-caps.
1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus iii. x. 101/1 They sometimes invert the hat, and wear it brim uppermost, like a University-cap.
1883 Notes & Queries 15 Dec. 469/1 The University or ‘Trencher’ Cap.
1999 E. Hautzig Remember Who You Are i. 2 I had always dreamt of looking like Margola and wearing the same university cap, at the same rakish angle.
university chair n. the most senior academic office or position in a faculty, subject, etc., at a particular university; cf. chair n.1 6b.In Britain and some other English-speaking countries the holder of a university chair is given the title professor (see professor n. 4a).
ΘΚΠ
society > education > teaching > teacher > university or college teacher > [noun] > professor > position of
profession1579
professorship1631
university chair1711
chair1816
professorate1831
professoriat1856
professoriate1862
1711 Ld. Shaftesbury Characteristicks III. Misc. v. ii. 287 He finds these Subjects..appropriated to the School, the University-Chair, or Pulpit.
1899 B. W. Henderson Merton Coll. 172 Not a few Mertonians have been appointed to University Chairs.
1968 J. Lyons Introd. Theoret. Linguistics i. 22 The term ‘comparative philology’,..like many other unsuitable terms, has been perpetuated in the titles of university chairs and departments.
1992 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 9 Feb. i. 52 The town rallied around the family and vowed to raise the initial money to finance a university chair in AIDS research.
University Chest n. (at Oxford and Cambridge Universities) the funds of the university; the office which receives and administers these, a finance office, committee, or board.Originally with reference to an actual chest or chests in which funds were kept. The term is still used informally at Oxford and Cambridge, although it no longer occurs in the official designation of any board or office.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > funds or pecuniary resources > [noun] > of a corporation or institution
treasury1560
University Chest?1625
chest1662
exposure1975
?1625 F. Godwin Succession of Bishops of Eng. 426 He burlded Trinity hall in Cambridge... He founded also the hall of the Anunciation of our Lady, and bestowed one of the Uniuersity chests.
1691 A. Wood Fasti Oxoniensis in Athenæ Oxonienses I. 636 He died in the Year 1521, at which time he bequeathed twenty Marks to the University Chest.
1717 E. Miller Acct. Univ. Cambr. 177 Neither the Vice-chancellor.., or the University Chest, get one Farthing of Money by it.
1870 Addenda Corpus Statutorum Universitatis Oxoniensis ii. 800 The Curators of the University Chest.
1996 P. Atiyah in P. Birks Wrongs & Remedies in 21st Cent. i. 10 (note) I am informed by the University Chest that an Oxford professor's basic salary in..1995 [was] £36,827.
2004 Statutes & Ordinances Univ. Cambr. 127 In any year in which the audited accounts show a sufficient balance the Syndicate shall pay over to the University Chest..a proportion of the balance.
university college n. an institution providing higher education but without full or independent university status; cf. college n. 4d.The exact status and organization of a university college varies from place to place. In the United Kingdom, the title was formerly given to colleges of higher education affiliated with but not part of a university, and usually unable to grant their own degrees. The title now confers a status intermediate between that of a university and a college, and institutions holding it are usually wholly independent.Since at least the 16th cent., University College has also been the name of one of the colleges of the University of Oxford (more formally ‘(the College of) the Great Hall of the University’).
ΘΚΠ
society > education > place of education > college or university > [noun] > college > affiliated to a university
college1838
university college1838
co-ordinate1975
1838 Charter Univ. London Such certificates as aforesaid may be presented from our College called University College, or from our College called King's College [etc.].
1894 School Rev. 2 287 The University College of Wales, at Aberystwyth..is now probably one of the most flourishing university colleges in the united kingdom.
1954 Times 1 July 9/6 University College of North Staffordshire..is the only university college empowered to grant degrees.
1981 D. Rowntree Dict. Educ. 335 University colleges, the name formerly given to the UK civic universities which, when first set up, did not have the power to grant their own degrees and usually granted those of London University instead. The last such (Leicester) became autonomous in 1957.
2004 N.Z. Managem. (Nexis) Nov. 64 Our vision... To be widely recognised as a pre-eminent university college in the Asia-Pacific region with internationally focused programmes and a global vision.
university extension n. (also with capital initials) a widening of the opportunity for higher education, involving any of various schemes in which university-level lectures, teaching, and examinations are offered to those who are not members of a university or (formerly, at some British universities) to non-resident students; cf. extension n. 9g, extramural adj. a; frequently attributive.In the United Kingdom now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > [noun] > systematic education > systems of
university extension1839
Philanthropinism1842
Arnoldismc1845
co-education1852
Pestalozzianism1859
kindergartenism1872
secularism1872
community education1873
Froebelism1879
co-ed1886
extramuralism1892
vocationalism1901
heurism1909
sandwich1913
Montessori1917
Montessorianism1917
Juku system1931
polytechnization1932
day release1936
essentialism1939
comprehensivization1958
multitracking1989
1839 Coll. Virginia Hist. & Philos. Soc. 1 58 I know of no more fruitful way of preparing a community to receive the benefits of university extension..than by instituting preliminary courses in local history, to be conducted by the professor of history in the nearest college or other institution of learning.
1846 N. Wales Chron. (Electronic text) 14 Apr. Some time ago a body of noblemen and gentlemen connected with the University of Oxford submitted to a committee of that Institution, appointed to enquire into the subject of University Extension, a series of suggestion [sic] in promotion of the object.
1881 Northern Echo 20 Aug. 4/4 A very energetic attempt is being made..to secure again to the Hartlepools the benefit of the University Extension Lecture Scheme.
1977 J. Draper in S. Kostof Architect 235 University extension courses were set up for working draftsmen.
1996 Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 16 Dec. (Suppl.) 1 The Statement of Results will show a General Achievement Test (GAT) statement, any results for vocational education and training units, satisfactory results for university extension studies [etc.].
university member n. British Parliament (now historical) a member of the House of Commons representing a university or group of universities and elected by all graduates of the university or universities concerned.The parliamentary representation of universities originated in Scotland and was introduced into England and Ireland under James I. University seats were abolished in the United Kingdom under the Representation of the People Act 1948. The number of university members varied over time with the number and political power of the universities. Upon abolition there were 12, with Oxford and Cambridge electing two each.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > English or British parliament > [noun] > Member of Parliament > other types of member
burgessc1425
private member1606
recruiter1648
university member1774
unofficial member1822
labour member1871
Labour-Liberal1890
service member1890
front-bencher1907
back-bencher1910
shire-member1910
1774 J. Burgh Polit. Disquis. I. v. iii. 350 No qualification required for eldest sons, and heirs of peers, or lords of parliament, or heirs of gentlemen of 600l. and 300l. a year, nor for university members.
1832 Times 14 July 1/6 The University members, save one or two brilliant exceptions, [were not] remarkable for either the brilliance or the profundity of their scholarship.
1867 Hansard Commons 18 June 29 I share the opinion of my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, that we are already overstocked with University Members.
1949 A. P. Herbert in Punch 27 Apr. 453/3 Mr. Haddock, by the way, complains rather bitterly that the University Members are being flung out of Parliament in the sacred name of ‘One-Man-One-Vote’.
1991 E. D. Steele Palmerston & Liberalism 1855–1865 vii. 171 The opposition of the two last [sc. Walpole and Gladstone], prominent University members representing distinctively clerical constituencies, was eloquent of the Evangelicals' unpopularity.
University of the Third Age n. [after French université du troisième âge (1978 or earlier)] originally British an organization providing courses of (higher) education designed for retired or older people; cf. third age n. at third adj. and n. Additions.
ΚΠ
1981 Cambr. Evening News 8 July 17/1 Dr Nicholas Coni, one of the leading lights behind a proposal to try to launch a University of the Third Age in Cambridge.
1985 New Age Summer 5/1 A research report on the image of elderly people on television has been published by the University of the Third Age in Cambridge.
2005 Canberra Times (Nexis) 20 July a22 In later years in Canberra, he was involved in teaching at the University of the Third Age.
university seat n. (a) the site or location of a university; (b) British Parliament the seat (seat n. 6c) of a university member (now historical); (c) an admission place for a student at a university.
ΚΠ
1806 J. Playfair Let. to Author Exam. Prof. Stewart's Statem. Facts 32 For professors to accept of livings at a distance from the University seat.
1861 Times 4 July 8/3 In other days there was scarcely such a thing as a struggle for a University seat. The member who was in held it for life.
1954 Phylon 15 162 Unless the number of available jobs and university seats is actually increased it seems almost inevitable that elevation of the depressed castes can be achieved only at the expense of some of the higher castes.
1989 C. H. McCormick Nest of Vipers iii. 77 A West Virginia University anatomy professor..was fired..at a meeting held 125 miles from its accustomed location, the university seat.
1999 S. Ball in C. M. Headlam Parl. & Politics in Age of Churchill & Attlee Introd. 33 A leading front-bencher whose University seat was to be abolished at the end of the Parliament.
2008 Tampa (Florida) Tribune (Nexis) 6 Sept. 1 A higher bar for entry..will only send more qualified students to community colleges, and the competition for university seats will heighten anxiety.
university sermon n. (also with capital initials) a sermon aimed at the members of a university, typically preached in the university church by a specially nominated or appointed person.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > preaching > [noun] > instance of > preached at a university
clerum1655
university sermon1662
1662 S. Clarke Coll. Lives Ten Eminent Divines i. 59 He was called to preach at St. Maries, where he preached a University Sermon, with high Applause from the Academical Wits.
1749 J. Pointer Oxoniensis Acad. 65 Custom of having the University Sermon preach'd in the Stone-Pulpit every Year on St John Baptist's Day.
1849 Cambr. Univ. Cal. p. xii Easter Tuesday. Mr. Mere's Commemoration at Benet Church, where the University Sermon is preached.
1915 Sesquicentennial of Brown Univ., 1764–1914 33 The University Sermon was delivered by the President of the University, the Rev. William Herbert Perry Faunce.
2001 Irish Times (Nexis) 21 Apr. 2 The Archbishop of Armagh will deliver the annual University Sermon in St Andrews.
University Wit n. (also with lower-case initials) any of a group of university-educated English poets and playwrights who flourished in the 1580s and 1590s. The writers so classified include Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nashe, George Peele, Thomas Kyd, Robert Greene, John Lyly, and Thomas Lodge.
ΚΠ
1870 N. Brit. Rev. Apr. 46/1 Shakespeare's style was less adapted to the sometimes ranting, sometimes stiff and statuesque, and always unnatural, method of the classical school which Nash and the ‘university wits’ patronized.
1943 Mod. Lang. Note 58 382 If an early version did indeed exist, ‘those unsavorie papers’ would certainly have earned the contempt of a University Wit like Greene.
2005 P. Honan Christopher Marlowe v. 133 He [sc. Watson] was among the earliest of the so-called ‘University Wits’.
Derivatives
ΘΚΠ
society > education > place of education > college or university > [adjective] > university > without
university-less1655
ununiversitied1655
1655 T. Fuller Hist. Univ. Cambr. ii. 21 in Church-hist. Brit. As for Scotland, it was University-less till Laurence Lundoris and Richard Crovel, Doctors of Civil-Law, first professed learning at St. Andrews.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > place of education > college or university > [noun] > university > condition of being
university-ship1655
1655 T. Fuller Hist. Univ. Cambr. ii. 35 in Church-hist. Brit. The University-ship of Cambridge, is to be accounted from her original constitution.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† universityv.
Obsolete. rare.
transitive. To provide or endow with a university. In passive in quot.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > place of education > college or university > [verb (transitive)] > provide with university
universitya1680
a1680 S. Butler Mercurius Menippeus (1682) 10 Pembroke may be Visited, and Manchester Universitied.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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n.c1300
v.a1680