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col·le·gi·um

(kə-lējē-əm)

n. pl. col·le·gi·a (-jē-ə) or col·le·gi·ums

1. An executive council or committee of equally empowered members, especially one supervising an industry, commissariat, or other organization in the Soviet Union.

2. A group whose members pursue shared goals while working within a framework of mutual trust and respect: "This standing firm ... enables the college to be a community, a collegium of students and faculty working at common problems and possibilities" (Robert A. Spivey).

[Russian kollegiya, from Latin collēgium, association, from collēga, colleague; see COLLEAGUE.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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