Meaning & use
university
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Meanings
nouncountable
An institution where students study for degrees after school, and where research is also carried out.
Grammar: Takes a: a university; at a university or at the university.
Patterns
- go to a university
- a university in some place
She applied to three universities in Canada.
The university has a famous medical school.
My brother teaches at a state university.
noununcountableBritish
The time spent studying at such an institution, as in 'at university' in British English.
Grammar: Used without an or the in British English: she is at university.
Patterns
- at university
- go to university
- after university
He met his wife at university.
She wants to go to university to study law.
After university, they moved to London.
nounsingular
All the students and staff of such an institution considered as a community.
Grammar: Often takes a singular verb: the university voted.
Patterns
- the whole university
The whole university turned out for the football final.
The university mourned the loss of the longtime president.
The university is proud of its graduates.
Word forms
| plural | universities |
|---|
Common combinations
- attend university
- She plans to attend university in the fall.
- university degree
- A university degree is needed for the job.
- university student
- As a university student, he lived in a dorm.
- state university
- Many students choose their local state university.
- university campus
- The university campus covers two hundred acres.
- leave university
- He left university before finishing his degree.
Synonyms and how they differ
- college
- College in the United States is often used for any school after high school, while university usually grants graduate degrees.
- academy
- Academy is used for schools of special training, such as a military academy, and is not the usual word for a degree-granting university.
- institute
- Institute often names a specialized school or research center, such as a technology institute.
- campus
- Campus is the physical site, and not the institution itself.
Word family
- universal adjective
- shared by everyone; from the same Latin root meaning whole
- interuniversity adjective
- between different universities
- undergraduate noun
- a student studying for a first degree
- postgraduate noun
- a student who has a first degree and studies further
Commonly confused: university or college? university or universe?
university vs college
In American English college often means a school for undergraduates, while in British English it can mean a school for ages 16 to 18. University usually offers degrees and research.
university vs universe
The universe means all of space and everything in it. It shares a root with university but is unrelated in meaning.
Practice
In British English, which sentence correctly says someone is studying for a degree?
Choose one answer.
British English uses at university without an article for studying there. At the university refers to a particular institution, so it would sound different.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “university”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.