2021-02-20
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด U – university & college
แนะนำการใช้ ตามที่ส่วนใหญ่ใช้ แต่ละท้องถิ่น
ความหมาย อาจผันแปร ตาม ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค
Dictionary.com
ออกเสียง university = ‘yoo-nuh-VUR-si-tee’
ออกเสียง college =
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree
College = an institution of higher learning
Not to be confusedwith:
collage = an artwork created by
pasting on a surface various materials
such as magazine clippings, photographs, tickets,
and other items not normally associated with each other
Dictionary.com
“College” vs. “University”: Are They Synonyms?
It doesn’t matter if you have
a high school diploma or more advanced degree,
there’s one thing related to education that may confuse you:
the difference between college and university.
Is the only thingthat distinguishes them in name only?
Or do colleges and universities offer distinct educations or philosophies?
Let’s take a closer look to see if
these nouns are actually synonyms or just commonly mixed-up words.
What does university mean?
University is defined as an institution of higher learning
“that can have a college of liberal arts
as well as a program of graduate studies
together with several professional schools.”
These could include schools of theology, law, medicine, and engineering,
for example, that offer both undergraduate and graduate degrees.
Universities can be larger
in terms of enrollment and number of degree programs
than other institutions,
especiallyif they are public or state schools, but this isn’t the case for all.
For example:
- She was the first in her family to study at a university.
- Before applying to a variety of universities,
he had to take into account the difference
between in-stateand out-of-state tuition.
- She got lost walking across the university’s campus
and mistook the law building for the business school’s complex.
University dates back to 1250–1300.
It can traced to the Latin word universus,
which literally means “turned into one.”
This developed into abstract nouns
used to refer to whole entities or bodies,
like universe (also from the same root).
Varsity is a colloquial abbreviation for university.
include academy, educational institution, and college.
What does college mean?
College is a noun that refers to “an institution of higher learning, especiallyone providing a general or liberal arts education
rather than technical or professional training.”
A culinary institutethat trains chefs is not a college or university
–it is considered professional training.
But an institution like Harvard
can be referred to as both a university and college.
And that’s because in American English,
college is commonly used as
the general way to refer to higher education and its related experiences.
For example:
- She was the first in her family to attend a four-year college.
- While in college, she made lifelong friends
and connections that benefited her for years to come
both personally and professionally.
- His parents feared that a university would be too big for him,
and that he would adjust better if he enrolled at a smaller college.
College can also refer to an institution
“for vocational, technical, or professional instruction,
as in medicine, pharmacy, agriculture, or music,
often a part ofa university”
or “a constituent unitof a university,
furnishing coursesof instruction in the liberal arts and sciences,
usually leading to a bachelor’s degree.”
And here’s where the difference
between college and university gets tricky:
there can be distinct colleges withina university.
For example,a university can have
a College of Engineering, College of Medicine, and College of Music,
all with their own admission requirements.
For example:
He was admitted into the university’s College of Arts and Sciences and planned to pursue a degree in sociology.
Some higher education institutions are
referred to as liberal arts colleges,as well.
These institutions are distinctly differentfrom universities.
Instead of specializingin a specific subject,
a liberal arts college offersstudents
an educationon a broader range of topics
and can be appealing to those
who aren’t ready to specialize in one areaearly on.
For example:
Since she didn’t have specific career goals, she enrolled in a liberal arts college that allowed her to explore her many interests.
College was first recorded around 1350–1400,
and it is ultimately derived from the Latin word collēgium
(“community, society, guild”).
Collegium means an “association, a partnership”
(literally, “a body of colleagues”).
Colleague comes from the same root.
Synonyms for college include association, institute, lyceum, organization, seminary.
How to use each
Yes, college and university are synonyms
as they both refer to places of higher education,
but they’re not always interchangeable.
That is because even though
you can typically get a four-year undergraduate degree
from both colleges and universities,
they do have some differences.
Colleges are typically smaller
and tend to focus more on undergraduate degrees
with core curriculums, according to U.S. News & World Report,
while
universitiesare often much larger,
with a focus on specialized undergraduate and graduate programs.
Although there can be colleges withina university,
it doesn’t work the other way around,
and colleges can also be distinctly separate from universities.
For example:
- As she walked through the quad at Syracuse University,
she passed bythe College of Visual and Performing Arts, the business school, and the library.
- He chose a university with a strong pre-med program
and declared his specialized major from day one.
- She decided to do her first two years at community college
while working onher grades and saving money
before transferringto the state university for her final two years.
As you can see,
another distinctionbetween colleges and universities
is that colleges can also refer to a community college,
a nonresidential junior college that typical offers two-year programs.
College vs. university inAmerican and British English
There’s one more distinction to note:
as noted, in American English,
college is commonly used as the general way
to refer to higher education,
e.g., She graduated from college or He is back form college break.
In British English,
university is frequently used as the catch-all term,
usually without an article,
e.g., Where is she going to university next year?
University is a common informal shortening,
as in He is off to uni soon.
Soม although it can be confusing,
and you may feel like
you need a college (or university!) degree to keep it straight,
just remember:
although the words college and university are similar
and can be interchanged depending on the context,
they also have their own specific meanings.
Just ask a proud alumnus about their college or university,
and they’ll surely explain
—and maybe drone on and on about
—just what makes their alma mater unique.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Words at Play
The Difference Between…
Lawyer/attorney, college/university, lager/ale, and more
A collegeand a university
College has a number of meanings
that have nothing to do with its most common one,
the institution of higher education.
For our purposes, the term college often gets
used interchangeably with university.
Compounding the confusion
is the fact that a number of well-known schools
with college in their name—such as Boston College—are actually,
by definition, universities.
There's the two- or four-year college
you attend in pursuit of an associate's or bachelor's degree
in any of a number of courses of study.
Such institutions usually operate as standalone entities.
A university, in contrast,
is usually composed of a number of different colleges or schools
and in most cases,
postgraduate opportunitiesfor advanced degrees in more than one field.
That's why you might hear about a person attending
"Forbes College at Princeton University," for example.
Collins COBUILD English Usage
School – university
1. used as countable nouns
In both British and American English,
a school is a place where children are educated,
and a university is a place where students study for degrees.
The village had a church and a school.
Heidelberg is a very old university.
2. used as uncountable nouns
In AmericanEnglish,
school (without 'a' or 'the') is used
to refer to both schools and universities.
If someone is attending a school oruniversity,
Americans saythat they are in school.
All the children were in school.
She is doing well in school.
When speakers of American English ask an adult
'Where did you go to school?',
they mean 'What college or university did you study in?'.
In British English,
school refers only to schools for children.
If someone is attending a school,
British speakers saythey are at school.
If they are attending a university,
British speakers saythey are at university.
I was at school with Joty, but I haven't seen her since I was 16.
She is studying medicine at university.
See student
Dictionary of Problem Words and Expressions
university& college
A university is an institution of higher learning
that embraces two or more colleges.
In the United States, a representative university
would have teaching and research facilities
comprising a graduate schooland a number of other colleges
(or so-called schools)
devoted to arts and sciences and to professional training for law, medicine, and other pursuits.
Normally, a college awards degreefor undergraduate work only;
a university is equipped to offer Master’s and doctoral degrees:
“Harvard Collegeis a part of Harvard University.”
“After she was graduated from Dartmouth College, she studied law at the University of Virginia.”
In proper idiom, one goes to college and to the university.
