A

* (highest rank, grade, music): From the initial position of the letter A in the English alphabet.
* (blood type): From A antigen

I was so happy to get an A on that test.

Darcy's pretty sharp. She pulls A's.

1999, W. Peter Iliff, Varsity Blues, spoken by Mox (James Van Der Beek):

(education) The highest letter grade assigned (disregarding plusses and minuses).


swap

From the verb swap. First attested in 1620.

(Cambridge University slang) A social meal at a restaurant between two university societies, usually involving drinking and banter; commonly associated with fining and pennying; equivalent to a crewdate at Oxford University.


quiz

→ Danish: quiz

→ Dutch: quiz, kwis

→ German: Quiz

→ Indonesian: kuis

→ Japanese: クイズ (kuizu)

→ Korean: 퀴즈 (kwijeu)

→ Norman: quiz

→ Norwegian Bokmål: quiz, kviss

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: quiz, kviss

→ Polish: kwiz, quiz

→ Portuguese: quiz

→ Spanish: quiz

→ Swedish: kviss

→ Welsh: cwis

Attested since the 1780s, of unknown origin.
* The Century Dictionary suggests it was originally applied to a popular toy, from a dialectal variant of whiz.
* The Random House Dictionary suggests the original sense was "odd person" (circa 1780).
* Others suggest the meaning "hoax" was original (1796), shifting to the meaning "interrogate" (1847) under the influence of question and inquisitive.
* Some say without evidence it was invented by a late-18th-century Dublin theatre proprietor who bet he could add a new nonsense word to the English language; he had the word painted on walls all over the city, and the morning after, everyone was talking about it (The Pre-Victorian Drama in Dublin).
* Others suggest it was originally quies (1847), Latin qui es? (who are you?), traditionally the first question in oral Latin exams. They suggest that it was first used as a noun from 1867, and the spelling quiz first recorded in 1886, but this is demonstrably incorrect.
* A further derivation, assuming that the original sense is "good, ingenuous, harmless man, overly conventional, pedantic, rule-bound man, square; nerd; oddball, eccentric", is based on a column from 1785 which claims that the origin is a jocular translation of the Horace quotation vir bonus est quis as "the good man is a quiz" at Cambridge.

For many it is hard to envision a scenario where a student completes an online quiz (or test) without using their smartphone, tablet, or other device to look up the answers, or ‘share’ those answers with other students.

2015 May 18, Matt Farrell, Shannon Maheu, “Why open-book tests deserve a place in your courses”, in Faculty Focus:

(education) A school examination of less importance, or of greater brevity, than others given in the same course.


rag week

From rag (“university students society run for charitable fundraising”) + week, possibly from the verb rag (“tease; torment; banter”).

compound

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-rag week.wav

This week has been the University College Rag Week. The students are given more or less a free hand all the week. They organize a series of revels culminating in a grand procession and collection this afternoon.

1949 April, The Texas Outlook, volume 33, number 4, page 4:

The only acting that looks like anything but rag week at a bad university is by Billy Hartman as a private detective.

1982 January 6, B.A. Young, The Financial Times, section 1, page 9:

Worse than that, too, during Rag Week when the drink flowed quickly and the privy seemes too far to stagger.

In truth the gags seldom rise above the level of an undergraduate Rag Week but speed, quickchange wigs and sheer chutzpah from Russell Bentley, pretty blonde Marianne Levy, Joel Brookes and Teddy Lawrence give wicked twists to such as 'Richard and Judaism', a Who Wants to be a Millionaire? contestant whose phone-a-friend is his argumentative Jewish mother, a wondering 'Wandering Jew' and a savage Shylock rehearsal scene.

2002 December 19, John Thaxter, “Tower of Bagel”, in The Stage, page 15:

(chiefly British and Ireland, university slang) An annual event in many universities where students engage in unusual activities to raise money for charity.


MBE

en-noun

MBE (countable and uncountable, plural MBEs)

Master of Bioscience Enterprise
w:Master of Bioscience Enterprise

(education) Initialism of Master of Bioscience Enterprise.


OCR

(education, UK) Initialism of Oxford, Cambridge & RSA (examination board)


BC

→ Chinese: 卑詩 /卑诗 (Bēishī)


CE

e.v.

Era Vulgaris; pseudo-Latin used by Thelemites

Common Entrance
w:Common Entrance Examination

(education) Initialism of Common Entrance.


DOS

(education) Initialism of director of studies.


open

en-adj

open (comparative more open or (phonetics) opener, superlative most open or (phonetics) openest)

more open (comparative)
opener (comparative)
most open (superlative)
openest (superlative)

closed-source

antonym(s) of “with a free license and no proprietary components”

Adjective from Middle English open, from Old English open (“open”), from Proto-West Germanic *opan, from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”), from Proto-Indo-European *upo (“up from under, over”).
Cognates
* Scots apen (“open”)
* Saterland Frisian eepen (“open”)
* West Frisian iepen (“open”)
* Dutch open (“open”)
* Low German open, apen (“open”)
* German offen (“open”)
* Danish åben (“open”)
* Swedish öppen (“open”)
* Norwegian Bokmål åpen (“open”)
* Norwegian Nynorsk open (“open”)
* Icelandic opinn (“open”)
 Compare also Latin supinus (“on one's back, supine”), Albanian hap (“to open”). Related to up.
Verb from Middle English openen, from Old English openian (“to open”), from Proto-West Germanic *opanōn, from Proto-Germanic *upanōną (“to raise; lift; open”), from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”, adjective). Cognate with Saterland Frisian eepenje (“to open”), West Frisian iepenje (“to open”), Dutch openen (“to open”), German öffnen (“to open”), Danish åbne (“to open”), Swedish öppna (“to open”), Norwegian Bokmål åpne (“to open”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Icelandic opna (“to open”). Related to English up.
Noun from Middle English open (“an aperture or opening”), from the verb. In the sports sense, however, a shortening of “open competition”.

inh

at church every time the doors swing open

Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.

2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

(computing, education) Made public, usable with a free licence and without proprietary components.


AM

en-noun

AM (countable and uncountable, plural AMs)

(education) Initialism of Master of Arts.


AA

AA (countable and uncountable, plural AAs)

“I’m still figuring out my plans, but going back for another year is in my plans. I would be going back and getting my AA [degree], while playing another year of softball,” Enright said.

2020 March 20, Colin Peters, “Coaches, athletes react to sports being put on pause”, in Daily Iowegian, archived from the original on 2020-04-01:

He returned to community college and earned an A.A. while working as an E.M.T. and plans to become a paramedic or a nurse. He attributes much of this to his faith.

2022 March 15, Ilana M. Horwitz, “I Followed the Lives of 3,290 Teenagers. This Is What I Learned About Religion and Education.”, in The New York Times:

Associate in Arts
Associate in Arts#English

Associate of Arts
Associate of Arts#English

(education) Initialism of Associate in Arts or Associate of Arts.


big

Inherited from Northern Middle English big, bigge (“powerful, strong”), possibly from a dialect of Old Norse. Ultimately perhaps a derivative of Proto-Germanic *bugja- (“swollen up, thick”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-, *bu- (“to swell”), in which case big would be related to bogey, bugbear, and bug.
Compare dialectal Norwegian bugge (“great man”), Low German Bögge, Boggelmann.

der

He was there the night of Cristoph's party. All the littles were assigned to their bigs. Ian and Christoph had rushed the same fraternity. When they became upperclassmen, they both ended up on the board.

2018, Kelly Ann Gonzales, Through an Opaque Window:

She added that the relationship between bigs and littles is "what each pair makes of it," and that a lot of the pairs often get dinner together and become close friends.

2019 April 1, Audrey Steinkamp, “Sororities pair new members with "bigs"”, in Yale Daily News:

Some traditions of the chapter include lineages with bigs and littles, receiving of paddles from a big, and a national stroll, Wolsch-Gallia said.

2022 September 27, Shreya Varrier, “Gamma Rho Lambda provides LGBTQIA+ community in greek life”, in Iowa State Daily:

(university slang) An initiated member of a sorority or fraternity who acts as a mentor to a new member (the little).


shadowing

en-noun

shadowing (countable and uncountable, plural shadowings)

(education) A work experience option where students learn about a job by walking through the work day as a shadow to a competent worker.

varjostaminen

Learning about a job as a shadow to a competent worker


absolute

en-adj

absolute (comparative more absolute or absoluter, superlative most absolute or absolutest)

more absolute (comparative)
absoluter (comparative)
most absolute (superlative)
absolutest (superlative)

conditional

antonym(s) of “free of restrictions, limitations, qualifications or conditions”

antonym(s) of “independent of references

First attested around 1380. From Middle English absolut, from Middle French absolut, from Latin absolūtus (“unconditional; unfettered; completed”), perfect passive participle of absolvō (“loosen, set free, complete”), from ab (“away”) + solvo (“to loose”). Influenced in part by Old French absolu. Compare absolve.

независим

grammar: not immediately dependent on the other parts of the sentence

categorical

(education) Pertaining to a grading system based on the knowledge of the individual and not on the comparative knowledge of the group of students.


academy

From French académie, from Latin acadēmīa, from Ancient Greek Ἀκαδημία (Akadēmía), a grove of trees and gymnasium outside of Athens where Plato taught; from the name of the supposed former owner of that estate, the Attic hero Akademos. Doublet of academia and Akademeia; compare academe.

The artists of London had long maintained a private academy for improvement in the art of drawing from living figures

1760–5, Tobias Smollett, The history of England from the revolution in 1688, to the death of George II, published 1805, page 449:

In this year 1633, I became acquainted with Nicholas Fiske, licentiate in physic, who was born in Suffolk, near Framingham* Castle, of very good parentage, who educated him at country schools, until he was fit for the university; but he went not to the academy, studying at home both astrology and physic, which he afterwards practised in Colchester; and there was well acquainted with Dr Gilbert, who wrote "De Magnete".

1776, David Hume, The life of David Hume:

An institution for the study of higher learning; a college or a university; typically a private school.

(UK, education) A school directly funded by central government, independent of local control.


accelerate

en-verb

accelerate (third-person singular simple present accelerates, present participle accelerating, simple past and past participle accelerated)

accelerates (present singular third-person)
accelerating (participle present)
accelerated (participle past)
accelerated (past)

First attested in the 1520s. Either from Latin accelerātus, perfect passive participle of accelerō (“I accelerate, hasten”), formed from ad + celerō (“I hasten”), which is from celer (“quick”) (see celerity), or back-formation from acceleration.

(transitive, education) To enable a student to finish a course of study in less than normal time.


accreditation

en-noun

accreditation (countable and uncountable, plural accreditations)

/əˌkɹɛd.ɪˈteɪ.ʃən/

/əˌkɹɛd.ɪˈteɪ.ʃən/

[əˌkɹɛɾ.ɪˈteɪ.ʃən]

/əˌkɹɛd.əˈteɪ.ʃən/

[əˌkɹɛɾ.əˈteɪ.ʃən]

[əˌkɹeɾ.əˈtæɪ.ʃən]

First attested in 1806, from accredit + -ation.

(education) The granting of approval to an institution of higher learning by an official review board after the school has met certain requirements.

اِعْتِمادٌ

the granting of approval of achieving an official standard of some sort


accumulate

en-verb

accumulate (third-person singular simple present accumulates, present participle accumulating, simple past and past participle accumulated)

accumulates (present singular third-person)
accumulating (participle present)
accumulated (participle past)
accumulated (past)

From Middle English accumylaten, from Latin accumulātus, perfect passive participle of accumulō (“amass, pile up”), formed from ad (“to, towards, at”) + cumulō (“heap”), from cumulus (“a heap”). First attested in the 1520's.

(education, dated) To take a higher degree at the same time with a lower degree, or at a shorter interval than usual.


accumulation

en-noun

accumulation (countable and uncountable, plural accumulations)

From Middle English acumulacyon, from Middle French accumulation and its etymon, Latin accumulātiō, accumulātiōnis. By surface analysis, accumulate + -ion. First attested in the late 15th century. Doublet of accumulatio.

натрупване

act of accumulating, the state of being accumulated

(UK, education, historical, uncountable) The practice of taking two higher degrees simultaneously, to reduce the length of study.


accumulator

From Latin accumulātor, agent noun of accumulō (“pile up”), accumulate + -or.

1691–92, Anthony Wood (antiquary), Athenæ Oxonienses
The first of these two was a compounder, the other who was an accumulator, was lately made provost of Trin. coll. near Dublin, and on the 31st of March 1692 was nominated bish. of Kilmore.

(UK, education, historical) One who takes two higher degrees simultaneously, to reduce their length of study.


NAIA

Ninoy Aquino International Airport
w:Ninoy Aquino International Airport

(Philippines) Initialism of Ninoy Aquino International Airport.


NCAA

The Pack’s average seed in the mountain of NCAA tourney predictions out there is 10, and even the most optimistic takes on State’s situation have the team as an eight-seed.

2019 February 25, Steven Muma, “NCAA tournament position stays tenuous as NC State does the bare minimum”, in Backing the Pack:

w:National Collegiate Athletic Association

(sports) Initialism of National Collegiate Athletic Association.


Georgia

From George (male given name) + -ia (place-name suffix).

af

/ˈd͡ʒɔː.d͡ʒə/

/ˈd͡ʒɔɹ.d͡ʒə/

/ˈd͡ʒɔʊ.d͡ʒə/

Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · Florida · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming

American Samoa · Guam · Northern Mariana Islands · Puerto Rico · United States minor outlying islands · United States Virgin Islands


smalls

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-smalls.wav

You see, Miss Dodd, an university examination consists of several items: neglect but one, and Crichton himself would be ploughed; because brilliancy in your other papers is not allowed to count; that is how the most distinguished man of our day got ploughed for Smalls.

(Oxford University slang, dated) The preliminary examination for a degree.


penny

en-verb

penny (third-person singular simple present pennies, present participle pennying, simple past and past participle pennied)

pennies (present singular third-person)
pennying (participle present)
pennied (participle past)
pennied (past)

From Middle English penny, peny, from Old English peniġ, penniġ, penning (“penny”), from Proto-West Germanic *panning, from Proto-Germanic *panningaz, of uncertain origin (see that page for theories). Doublet of pfennig and fening.

You got pennied! Down it, fresher.

(Oxbridge slang) During a meal or as part of a drinking game, to drop a penny in a person's drink with the expectation that they finish it (or some such variation thereof); commonly associated with crewdates at Oxford and swaps at Cambridge.


learn

learn (third-person singular simple present learns, present participle learning, simple past and past participle learned or learnt)

learns (present singular third-person)
learning (participle present)
or learnt (literary participle past)
or learnt (literary past)

Possibly related to Middle English leren, from Old English lǣran (“to teach, instruct, indoctrinate”), from Proto-West Germanic *laiʀijan, from Proto-Germanic *laizijaną (“to teach”), from *laizō (“lore, teaching", literally, "track, trace”), from Proto-Indo-European *leys- (“to track, furrow”).
Cognate with Scots lere, leir, Saterland Frisian leere, West Frisian leare, Dutch leren, German lehren, Danish lære, Swedish lära. See also lear, lore. But normally the Middle English word would give lere, not learn.

der

Give him a clip round the ear. That'll learn him!

And whan she had serched hym
 she fond in the bottome of his wound that therin was poyson
 And soo she heled hym[…]
 and therfore Tramtrist cast grete loue to la beale Isoud
 for she was at that tyme the fairest mayde and lady of the worlde
 And there Tramtryst lerned her to harpe
 and she beganne to haue grete fantasye vnto hym

1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter IX, in Le Morte Darthur, book VIII:

Sweet prince, you learn me noble thankfulness.

1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

Have I not been
 Thy pupil long? Hast thou not learn'd me how
 To make perfumes?

1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:

[…] Take heed of filling their [i.e., children's] heads with VVhimzies, and unprofitable Notions; for this vvill ſooner learn them to be malepert and proud, than ſober and humble.

1663 April 27 (Gregorian calendar), John Bunyan, “Touching Parents”, in Christian Behaviour; or The Fruits of True Christianity. […], London: […] F. Smith, […], →OCLC, page 56:

That'll learn him to bust my tomater.

1993, The Simpsons, (18 Feb. 1993) Lisa's thoughts

(now only in non-standard speech and dialects) To teach.


chair

→ Assamese: চেয়াৰ (sear)

desc

→ Bengali: চেয়ার (ceẏar), চ্যায়ার (cêẏar), চ্যার (cêr) — obsolete

→ Odia: ଚେଆର୍ (ceār), ଚିୟାର୍ (ciyār), ଚିଆର (ciāra)

→ Sylheti: ꠌꠤꠀꠞ (siar)

Tok Pisin: sea, sia

→ Tongan: sea

From Middle English chayer, chaire, chaiere, chaere, chayre, chayere, from Old French chaiere, chaere, from Latin cathedra (“seat”), from Ancient Greek καθέδρα (kathédra), from κατά (katá, “down”) + ἕδρα (hédra, “seat”). Displaced native stool and settle, which now have more specialised senses. Doublet of cathedra and chaise.

In 1928 [Martin] Heidegger succeeded [Edmund] Husserl to take a chair at Freiburg […]

2014 April 12, Michael Inwood, “Martin Heidegger: the philosopher who fell for Hitler [print version: Hitler's philosopher]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review), London, page R11:

(education) A distinguished professorship at a university.


civics

en-noun

civics (usually uncountable, plural civics)

From Latin civicus (“having to do with citizens or a town or city”).

der

The study of good citizenship and proper membership in a community.


worksheet

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-worksheet.wav

From work + sheet. First use appears c. 1823 in the publications of Isaac D'Israeli.

(education) A sheet of paper or computerized document on which problems are worked out or solved and the answers are recorded.


AP

en-noun

AP (countable and uncountable, plural APs)

Coordinate term: IB

(countable, US, education) An Advanced Placement program.


AP

Coordinate term: IB

Joel is AP everything and he's applied to Harvard, so I guess his dad isn't taking any chances.

2010, Jennifer Egan, “Ask Me if I Care”, in A Visit from the Goon Squad:

(US, education) Initialism of Advanced Placement.


BA

BA (countable and uncountable, plural BAs)

Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts#English


MA

MA (countable and uncountable, plural MAs)


MS

MS (countable and uncountable, plural MSes)

Master of Science
Master of Science#English

(academics) Initialism of Master of Science.


PE

PE (countable and uncountable, plural PEs)

physical education
physical education#English

(education) Initialism of physical education.

preliminary examination
preliminary examination#English

(education) Initialism of preliminary examination.


BS

BS (countable and uncountable, plural BSs)

Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science#English

(US) Abbreviation of Bachelor of Science.


CS

complementary studies
complementary studies#English

(education) Initialism of complementary studies.


DU

University of Denver
w:University of Denver


VC

VC (countable and uncountable, plural VCs)

→ Bengali: ভিসি (bhiśi)

(education) Initialism of vice-chancellor.

voluntary controlled
voluntary controlled school#English

(UK, education) Initialism of voluntary controlled.


KS

(UK, education) Initialism of key stage.


MD

Alternative forms: Md., Md

United States of America
United States of America

Abbreviation of Maryland, a state of the United States of America.


VA

voluntary aided
voluntary aided school#English

(UK, education) Initialism of voluntary aided.


Georgetown

/ˈd͡ʒɔː(ɹ)d͡ʒtaʊn/


SAU

(US, New Hampshire, education) Initialism of school administrative unit.


break

From Middle English breken, from Old English brecan (“to break”), from Proto-West Germanic *brekan, from Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break”). The word is a doublet of bray.
Cognates
Cognates of Germanic origin include Scots brek (“to break”), West Frisian brekke (“to break”), Dutch breken (“to break”), Low German breken (“to break”), German brechen (“to break”), French broyer (“to crush, grind”), Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (brikan, “to break, destroy”), Norwegian brek (“desire, yearning”).
Also cognate with Albanian brishtë (“fragile”), Latin frangō (“break, break up, shatter”, verb), whence English fracture and other terms – fragile, frail, fraction, and fragment.

cog

(UK, education) A time for students to talk or play between lessons.


exeat

Borrowed from Latin exeat, third-person singular subjunctive of exeō (“depart”) used as an impersonal imperative, literally “let him go forth”.

Coordinate term: absit

A license or permit for absence from a university or a religious house (such as a monastery).

[I]t was impossible to imagine her doing anything except eating ice-cream and smoking, like a child on an exeat from school.

1984, Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac, Penguin, published 2016, page 66:

(dated, UK) Leave of absence from a public school or college.


graduate

student

antonym(s) of “person recognized for having finished studies”

/ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuət/

/ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuɪt/

From Latin graduātus (“graduated”), from gradus (“step”). Sense 10 of the verb, relating to Japanese entertainment, is a semantic loan from Japanese 卒業 (sotsugyō).

sl

If the government wants graduates to stay in the country they should offer more incentives.

A person who is recognized by a university as having completed the requirements of a degree studied at the institution.

(US, Canada) A person who is recognized by a high school as having completed the requirements of a course of study at the school.

(Philippines) A person who is recognized as having completed any level of education.


graduate

en-adj

graduate (comparative more graduate, superlative most graduate)

more graduate (comparative)
most graduate (superlative)

/ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuət/

/ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuɪt/


graduate

en-verb

graduate (third-person singular simple present graduates, present participle graduating, simple past and past participle graduated)

graduates (present singular third-person)
graduating (participle present)
graduated (participle past)
graduated (past)

/ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuət/

/ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuɪt/

/ˈɡɹæd͡ʒueɪt/

/ˈɡɹæd͡ʒueɪt/

After graduating from Princeton University, he earned a law degree in Canada, then worked as an environmental lawyer in Israel before settling on the south side of Youngstown.

2019 February 19, Jeremy Pelzer, “Youngstown School Board member Dario Hunter seeks Green Party presidential nomination”, in cleveland.com:

The man graduated in 1967.

Trisha graduated from college.

(intransitive, ergative) To be recognized by a school or university as having completed the requirements of a degree studied at the institution.

دَرَّجَ

to be recognized by a university as having completed the requirements of a degree

око́нчить

+ учебное заведение

畢業 /毕业

US: to be recognized by a high school as having completed the requirements of a course of study


reading

en-noun

reading (countable and uncountable, plural readings)

From Middle English reding, redynge, redunge, from Old English rǣding (“reading”), equivalent to read + -ing.

(education, uncountable) The content of a reading list.


internal

en-adj

internal (comparative more internal, superlative most internal)

more internal (comparative)
most internal (superlative)

From Middle English internall, internalle, borrowing from New Latin internālis (“of or pertaining to the inner part”), from internus (“inward, internal”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix). By surface analysis, intern + -al.

af

(British, education, of a student) Attending a university as well as taking its examinations.


rhetorical

/ɹɪˈtɒɹ.ɪ.kəl/

/ɹəˈtɒɹ.ɪ.kəl/

/ɹɪˈtɔɹɪkəl/

/ɹəˈtɔɹɪkəl/

From Middle English rethorycal, rethoricalle, rethorycall, from rethorik, rhetoric (noun) or Latin rēthoricus, rhētoricus, from Ancient Greek ῥητορικός (rhētorikós, “concerning public speaking”).

der

(education, dated) A study or exercise in rhetoric.


pledge

From Middle English plege, from Anglo-Norman plege, from Old French plege (Modern French pleige) from Medieval Latin plevium, plebium, from plebiō (“I pledge”), from Frankish *plehan (“to pledge; to support; to guarantee”). Akin to Old High German pflegan (“to take care of, be accustomed to”), Old Saxon plegan (“to vouch for”), Old English plēon (“to risk, endanger”). More at plight.

peng

delivery of personal property to secure the payment of a debt

(university slang) A person who has taken a pledge of allegiance to a college fraternity, but is not yet formally approved.

schacht

person who has taken a pledge of allegiance to a fraternity


set

From Middle English set, sete, sette (“that which is set, the act of setting, seat”), from Old English set (“setting, seat, a place where people remain, habitation, camp, entrenchment, a place where animals are kept, stall, fold”) and Old English seten (“a set, shoot, slip, branch; a nursery, plantation; that which is planted or set; a cultivated place; planting, cultivation; a setting, putting; a stopping; occupied land”), related to Old English settan (“to set”). Compare Middle Low German gesette (“a set, suite”), Old English gesetl (“assembly”). According to Skeat, in senses denoting a group of things or persons, representing an alteration of sept, from Old French sette (“a religious sect”), from Medieval Latin secta (“retinue”), from Latin secta (“a faction”). See sect. It is quite possible that the modern word is more of a merger between both, however.

cog

Looking at pupil attainment, the study found that students with the same Key Stage 3 scores could have their GCSE grade raised or lowered by up to half a grade as a result of being placed in a higher or lower set.

2012 April 26, “Themes: Pupil grouping and organisation of classes”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), Department for Education, archived from the original on 2012-06-14:

(UK, education) A class group in a subject where pupils are divided by ability.


set

en-verb

set (third-person singular simple present sets, present participle setting, simple past and past participle setted)

sets (present singular third-person)
setting (participle present)
setted (participle past)
setted (past)

In setted classes, students are brought together because they are believed to be of similar 'ability'. Yet, setted lessons are often conducted as though students are not only similar, but identical—in terms of ability, preferred learning style and pace of working.

2008, Patricia Murphy, Robert McCormick, Knowledge and Practice: Representations and Identities:

At Amber Hill, setting was a high-profile concept, and the students were frequently reminded of the set to which they belonged.

2002, Jo Boaler, Experiencing School Mathematics: Traditional and Reform Approaches and Their Impact on Student Learning:

Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting.

2013 July 19, Peter Wilby, “Finland spreads word on schools”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 30:

(UK, education) To divide a class group in a subject according to ability


teach

(informal, usually as a term of address) teacher


ball

ball (third-person singular simple present balls, present participle balling, simple past and past participle balled)

balls (present singular third-person)
balling (participle present)
balled (participle past)
balled (past)

From Middle English bal, ball, balle, from an unattested Old English *beall, *bealla (“round object, ball”) or Old Norse bǫllr (“a ball”), both from Proto-Germanic *balluz, *ballô (“ball”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰol-n- (“ball, bubble”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to blow, inflate, swell”). Cognate with Old Saxon ball, Dutch bal, Old High German bal, ballo (German Ball (“ball”); Ballen (“bale”)). Related forms in Romance are borrowings from Germanic. See also balloon, bale.

der

This highlights the issue of toxic masculinity in fraternities: a pledge only becomes a man, or a brother, by enduring as much abuse as he can and by proving his competence with girls. If he cannot, he is not only "balled" but seen as a "faggot" (this is a term directly from the work).

2018 July 12, “'I Thought Frats Were Like Their Movies, and They Totally Are': A Review of 'Alpha Class'”, in College Media Network:

All of these things are done by pledges in hopes of not getting 'balled' or kicked out.

2019 November 25, Annie Martin, “UCF frat suspended after report of pledges being forced to smoke marijuana, drink 'entire bottles' of alcohol”, in Orlando Sentinel:

(university slang) To reject from a fraternity or sorority. (Short for blackball.)


gull

Perhaps from an obsolete term gull (“to swallow, guzzle”), from Middle English golen (“to make swallowing motions, gape”).

inh

You'll excuse me, sir, but as you are fresh, take care to avoid the gulls; they fly about here in large flocks, I assure you, and do no little mischief at times." "I never understood that gulls were birds of prey," said I.—"Only in Oxford, sir; and here, I assure you, they bite like hawks, and pick many a poor young gentleman as bare before his three years are expired, as the crows would a dead sheep upon a common. […]"

1825, Bernard Blackmantle, The English Spy:

(obsolete, Oxford University slang) A swindler or trickster.


impose

en-verb

impose (third-person singular simple present imposes, present participle imposing, simple past and past participle imposed)

imposes (present singular third-person)
imposing (participle present)
imposed (participle past)
imposed (past)
impose (infinitive)

The verb is derived from Late Middle English imposen (“to place, set; to impose (a duty, etc.)”), borrowed from Middle French imposer, and Old French emposer, enposer (“to impose (a duty, tax, etc.)”) (modern French imposer), from im-, em- (variants of en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’)) + poser (“to place, put”), modelled after:
* Latin impōnere (“to place or set (something) on; (figurative) to impose (a duty, tax, etc.)”),, from im- (variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘on, upon’)) + pōnō (“to place, put; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂pó, *h₂epó (“away; off”) + *tḱey- (“to cultivate; to live; to settle”)); and
* Latin impositus (“established; put upon, imposed”), the perfect passive participle of impōnō: see above.
The noun is derived from the verb.

der

(UK, school or university slang) To subject (a student) to imposition (“a task inflicted as punishment”).


outcome

The outcomes of this course are outlined in your syllabus.

(education) The anticipated or desired results or evidence of a learning experience (often used in the phrase learning outcomes).


UK

→ Ukrainian: ЮКе́й (JuKéj)

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

University of Kentucky
w:University of Kentucky


wedge

From Wedgewood, surname of the person who occupied this position on the first list of 1828.

The last man is called the Wedge, corresponding to the Spoon in Mathematics.

1873, Charles Astor Bristed, Five Years in an English University:

(UK, Cambridge University slang) The person whose name stands lowest on the list of the classical tripos.


annotation

en-noun

annotation (countable and uncountable, plural annotations)

/ˌænəˈteɪʃən/

From Latin annotātiōnem, accusative singular of annotātiō (“remark, annotation”), from annotātus, perfect passive participle of annotō (“note down, remark”). Equivalent to annotate + -ion.

(computing) Metadata added to a document or program.

(genetics) Information relating to the genetic structure of sequences of bases.

注釋 /注释

information relating to the genetic structure of sequences of bases


band

en-verb

band (third-person singular simple present bands, present participle banding, simple past and past participle banded)

bands (present singular third-person)
banding (participle present)
banded (participle past)
banded (past)

Derived from Middle English band, from Old French bande, from Old Occitan banda (“regiment of troops”), perhaps from Frankish *bend, from Proto-Germanic *bandiz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to tie; bond, band”). Compare German Bande (“band”).

der

(transitive, education) To group (students) together by perceived ability; to stream.


suspension

en-noun

suspension (countable and uncountable, plural suspensions)

Borrowed from Late Latin suspensiōnem (“arching, vaulting; suspension”), from suspendēre (“to hang up, to suspend”), from sub- (“under”) + pendere (“to hang, to suspend”), from Proto-Italic *pendō (“to hang, to put in a hanging position”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pénd-e-ti, from *(s)pend- (“to pull; to spin”)). Compare Anglo-Norman suspensiun, French suspension, Occitan suspensio.

der

suspension from school as a disciplinary measure

[…] Donna Thomas, John Tiedeman, David Jones, and Richard Williams, all students in the Granville Junior-Senior High School, conceived a plan in November 1978 to produce a satirical publication addressed to the school community. […] [Assistant Principal Frederick] Reed summoned Tiedeman and discussed with him the “dangers” of publishing material that might offend or hurt others. Specifically, he told Tiedeman that a similar publication several years before had culminated in the suspension of the students involved.

1979, Irving R[obert] Kaufman, Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, “Thomas v. Board of Education”, in The Federal Reporter. Second Series. Cases Argued and Determined in the Circuit Courts of Appeals and District Courts of the United States and the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, with Key-number Annotations, volume 607, St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 1045; reprinted in Michael Imber; Tyll van Geel, “Student Freedom of Expression”, in Education Law, 4th edition, New York, N.Y.; Abingdon, Oxon.: Routledge, 2010, page 158

out-of-school suspension
out-of-school suspension#English

(education) The process of barring a student from school grounds as a form of punishment (particularly out-of-school suspension).

schorsing

education: process of barring a student from school grounds as a form of punishment


PS

en-noun

PS (countable and uncountable, plural PSes or PSs)

(education) Initialism of public school.


university

university (countable and uncountable, plural universities)

→ Tokelauan: Iunivehite

From Middle English universite (“institution of higher learning, body of persons constituting a university”) from Anglo-Norman université, from Old French universitei, from Medieval Latin stem of universitas, in juridical and Late Latin "A number of persons associated into one body, a society, company, community, guild, corporation, etc"; in Latin, "the whole, aggregate," from universus (“whole, entire”).

inh

She's studying mathematics at university.

The only reason why I haven't gone to university is because I can't afford it.

During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant[…]

1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond:

Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.

2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

The most compelling stories of whether university is worth it are examples where a university education lifts the economic standing of a poor or disadvantaged student to a higher socioeconomic position.

2021, Harvey P. Weingarten, “Is Going to University Worth It?”, in Nothing Less than Great: Reforming Canada’s Universities, Toronto, Ont., Buffalo, N.Y., London: University of Toronto Press, →ISBN, page 23:

The NIAID supports projects at universities and research organizations around the United States as well as a network of 21 NIAID labs across the country.

2023 August 2, Ben Tinker, Meg Tirrell and Brenda Goodman, “New director named at National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases after Fauci’s retirement”, in CNN:

Institution of higher education (typically accepting students from the age of about 17 or 18, depending on country, but in some exceptional cases able to take younger students) where subjects are studied and researched in depth and degrees are offered.

യൂണിവേഴ്സിറ്റി

yūṇivēḻsiṟṟi


quest

Blend of quiz + test, to avoid using the word test.

I had a calculus quest (not a quiz or a test, but somewhere in between...) it was on limits, and l'hopital's rule...

1998 March 20, bill kao, “3rd per”, in alt.music.ash (Usenet):

However took a quest, quiz/test combination that this math progrm^([sic]) uses, and got ten out of ten on it!

2004 September 24, Kathy, “Weekly Diary Third Semester #4”, in alt.coffee.clutch (Usenet):

Quests, bigger than quizzes and smaller than tests, consist of around 10 questions worth 2 points each, designed to take about 30–40 minutes.

2015, Kathleen Gibson-Dee, “Learning Through Questing, Not Testing”, in College Teaching, volume 63, number 3, Taylor & Francis, →ISSN, page 133:

Most outcomes were assessed with 10 min, single-page, five-question quizzes/tests (“quests”) given at the beginning of class, followed immediately with a brief discussion of the correct answers; mastery could be demonstrated by the student with four of five complete, correct answers (with no partial credit). […] Students were given a finite number of “quest” retakes. Three class periods during the semester were used as quest makeup periods, during which students would be able to take new versions of EO and GO quests.

2017, Joshua Ring, “ConfChem conference on select 2016 BCCE presentations”, in Journal of Chemical Education, volume 94, number 12, ACS Publications, →ISSN, pages 2005–2006:


beta

en-noun

beta (countable and uncountable, plural betas)

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta). Doublet of beth.

But let me tell you happy extroverts that only Vera Telfer and H. A. C. Evans got even an alpha minus; only T. E. Hendrie got a beta plus […]

1957, R. Avery, “This Week’s Competition”, in Time & Tide, volume 38, number 1, page 184:

Mr Taylor would hardly give a beta minus to one of his history students […]

1964, Randolph Churchill, The Fight for the Tory Leadership: A Contemporary Chronicle, page 49:

The English class was for me delightful. My essays, still written under the influence of Kubla Khan, nearly always got a beta plus.

1979, Angus MacVicar, Silver in My Sporran: Confessions of a Writing Man, page 76:

(education, rare) An academic grade better than a gamma and worse than an alpha.


CBS

Christian Brothers School
w:List of Christian Brothers schools

(education) Initialism of Christian Brothers School.


class

class (countable and uncountable, plural classes)

→ Assamese: ক্লাছ (klas)

desc

→ Bengali: ক্লাস (klaś), কেলাস (kelaś) — nonstandard

q

or from French <i class="Latn mention" lang="fr">classe</i>

→ Gulf Arabic: كلاس (klās) (or from French classe)

→ Hindustani:

Hindi: क्लास (klās)

Urdu: کلاس

→ Japanese: クラス (kurasu)

→ Korean: 클래스 (keullaeseu)

→ Nepali: क्लास (klās)

→ Scottish Gaelic: clas

→ Thai: คลาส (kláas)

→ Yoruba: kíláàsì

From Middle French classe, from Latin classis (“a class or division of the people, assembly of people, the whole body of citizens called to arms, the army, the fleet, later a class or division in general”), from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- (“to call, shout”). Doublet of clas and classis.

class action

class-action, class action lawsuit, class suit

The class was noisy, but the teacher was able to get their attention with a story.

(education, countable and uncountable) A group of students in a regularly scheduled meeting with a teacher.


California

en-proper noun

California (countable and uncountable, plural Californias)

Etymology of California
Las sergas de Esplandián

Probably Spanish after California, a Utopian island of the Amazons described in Las sergas de Esplandián, a 16th-century Spanish novel. The name comes from the fictional island's Muslim-allied queen, Calafia, whose name is a play on Arabic خَلِيفَة (ḵalīfa, “caliph”). For more information see: Etymology of California.


fag

Akin to flag (“droop, tire”). Compare Dutch vaak (“sleepiness”).

I had the character at ſchool of being the very beſt fag that ever came into it.

1791, Richard Cumberland, The Observer, volume 4, page 67:

“He was my fag at Eton,” Warrington said. “I ought to have licked him a little more.”

1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

A gang of fags was mobbing about by the notice-boards. They fell silent as he approached. He patted one of them on the head. ‘Pretty children,’ he sighed, digging into his waistcoat pocket and pulling out a handful of change. ‘Tonight you shall eat.’ Scattering the coins at their feet, he moved on.

(UK, Ireland, education, historical, colloquial) A younger student acting as a servant for senior students.


fag

en-verb

fag (third-person singular simple present fags, present participle fagging, simple past and past participle fagged)

fags (present singular third-person)
fagging (participle present)
fagged (participle past)
fagged (past)

(intransitive, UK, Ireland, education, historical, colloquial) (of a younger student) To act as a servant for senior students in many British boarding schools.

It is everywhere observed that a liberated slave is apt to make a merciless master, and that boys who have been cruelly fagged at school are cruel faggers.

1887, Francis Bacon, Richard Whately, Essays, page 63:

(transitive, UK, Ireland, education, historical, colloquial) To have (a younger student) act as a servant in this way.


school

en-noun

school (countable and uncountable, plural schools)

Australian Kriol: skul

Bislama: skul

Nigerian Pidgin: skul

Tok Pisin: skul, sikul

Pijin: skul

→ Maori: kura

→ Swahili: skule, skuli

From Middle English scole, from Old English scōl (“place of education”), from Late Latin schola, scola (“learned discussion or dissertation, lecture, school”), from Ancient Greek σχολή (skholḗ, “spare time, leisure”), from Proto-Indo-European *seǵʰ- (“to hold, have, possess”). Doublet of schola and shul.
Compare Old Frisian skūle, schūle (“school”) (West Frisian skoalle, Saterland Frisian Skoule), Dutch school (“school”), German Low German School (“school”), Old High German scuola (“school”), German Schule (“school”), Old Norse skóli (“school”).
Influenced in some senses by Middle English schole (“group of persons, host, company”), from Middle Dutch scole (“multitude, troop, band”). See school (“group”). Related also to Old High German sigi (German Sieg, “victory”), Old English siġe, sigor (“victory”).

cog

German <i class="Latn mention" lang="de">Sieg</i>

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class IV § 542. School

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/36 § graduate school

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/39 § high school

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/46 § junior high school

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/52 § middle school

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/57 § normal school

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/58 § open classroom school

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/65 § preparatory school

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/67 § public school

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/75 § secondary school

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/80 § special school

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/83 § summer school

One particularly damaging, but often ignored, effect of conflict on education is the proliferation of attacks on schools[…]as children, teachers or school buildings become the targets of attacks. Parents fear sending their children to school. Girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence.

2013 July 19, Mark Tran, “Denied an education by war”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 1:

educational institution
educational institution

(British) An educational institution providing primary and secondary education, prior to tertiary education (college or university).


AI

en-noun

AI (countable and uncountable, plural AIs)

Audio (US)

(education) Initialism of academic integrity.


MM

(education) Initialism of Master of Music.

(education) Initialism of Master of Management.


education

education (countable and uncountable, plural educations)

/ˌɛd͡ʒ.ʊˈkeɪ.ʃən/

/ˌɛd͡ʒ.əˈkeɪ.ʃən/

/ˌɛd͡ʒ.ʊˈkeɪ.ʃən/

Borrowed from Middle French éducation, from Latin ēducātiō (“a breeding, bringing up, rearing”), from ēducō (“I educate, train”), from ēdūcō (“I lead forth, I take out; I raise up, I erect”). See educate.
Morphologically educate + -ion

der

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class IV § 537. Teaching

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class IV § 492. Scholar

Good education is essential for a well-run society.

(uncountable) The process of imparting knowledge, skill and judgment.

onderwys

process or art of imparting knowledge, skill and judgment


spectrum

From Latin spectrum (“appearance, image, apparition”), from speciō (“look at, view”). Doublet of specter. See also scope.

bor

He punctuated his words with a look into my eyes that might have been read as threatening or menacing by anyone who was not on the spectrum. But I am on the spectrum, and so I stared back at him.

2022, Percival Everett, Dr. No, Influx Press (2023), page 110:

(psychology, education, usually with the) The autism spectrum.


MBA

Business Administration
business administration#English

Initialism of Master of Business Administration (a college degree).


degree

From Middle English degre, borrowed from Old French degré (French: degré), itself from Latin gradus, with the prefix de-.

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class I § 26. Degree

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class I § 31. Greatness

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class I § 32. Smallness

She has two bachelor's degrees and is studying towards a master's degree.

(education) A stage of proficiency or qualification in a course of study, now especially an award bestowed by a university/college, as a certification of academic achievement. (In the United States, can include secondary schools.)


college

⇒ Bengali: কলেজ (kolej)

→ Finnish: college

⇒ Hindustani:

desc

Hindi: कालिज (kālij), कॉलेज (kŏlej), कालेज (kālej)

Urdu: کالِج (kālij)

→ Russian: ко́лледж (kólledž), колле́дж (kollédž)

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: ко̀леџ

Latin script: kòledž

→ Slovene: koledž

→ Ukrainian: ко́ле́дж (kólédž)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-?
Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm
Proto-Italic *kom
Old Latin com
Latin cum
Latin con-
Latin lēx
Latin -ō
Latin lēgō
Latin collēga
Proto-Indo-European *-yōs
Proto-Italic *-jōs
Old Latin -ios
Latin -ius
Latin -ium
Latin collēgiumbor.
Old French college
Middle French collegebor.
Middle English college
English college
From Middle English college, from Middle French college, from Old French college, from Latin collēgium. Doublet of collegium.

大專 /大专

postsecondary institution that does not award bachelor's degrees

مَعْهَد

College of Engineering

(education) An academic institution.
A specialized division of a university.

She's still in college

These should be his college years, but he joined the Army.

(chiefly US) An institution of higher education teaching undergraduates.

колле́ж

somewhat dated or French/Belgian context

opiskelu

attendance at an institution of higher education

(education) An academic institution.
(Ireland, Philippines) A university.

(Canada) A postsecondary institution that offers vocational training and/or associate's degrees.

Pembroke College, Cambridge

Balliol College, Oxford

University College, London

(chiefly UK) A non-specialized, semi-autonomous division of a university, with its own faculty, departments, library, etc.

(UK) An institution of further education at an intermediate level; sixth form.

كُلِّيَّة

(UK) An institution for adult education at a basic or intermediate level (teaching those of any age).

大學 /大学

Eton College

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa) A high school or secondary school.

An academic institution.
A high school or secondary school.

私立高中

in the formal names of private schools: secondary school

(Australia) A private (non-government) primary or high school.

(Australia) A residential hall associated with a university, possibly having its own tutors.

(Singapore) A government high school, short for junior college.

(education) An academic institution.
(in Chile) A bilingual school.

An academic institution.
A bilingual school.


public school

From public (originally, "communal" and contrasted with personal tutors; later, "state-run" and contrasted with private schools) + school.

All such School-masters as have charge of Children and do instruct them either in Publick Schools, or Private Houses.

1580 June 18, Letters of the Privy Council in John Strype's History of Edmund Grindal (1710), ii.xi.254

No person shall keepe any schoole... except it be in some publike or free Grammer Schoole, or in some such noblemans... or gentlemans... house as are not recusants.

1604, Acts of Parliament 1 under James I, c.4, §8

This worthy Man having observed the imperfect Institution of our public Schools, and the many Vices which Boys were there liable to learn, had resolved to educate his Nephew... in his own House.

1749, Henry Fielding, chapter V, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume I, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book iii, page 184:

Our Public Schools... (by which phrase we never mean real public schools like the Board schools at all, but merely schools for the upper and middle classes) are in their existing stage primarily great gymnasiums.

1893 February 4, Westminster Gazette, section 2:

Who is there who has not jeered at the House of Lords, the military caste, the Royal Family, the public schools, the huntin′ and shootin′ people, the old ladies in Cheltenham boarding houses, the horrors of ‘county’ society and the social hierarchy generally?

1937, George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier, section 146:

It turned out she was posh, or posh-ish, having been to a public school somewhere in Hampshire.

2005, Nick Laird, Utterly Monkey, section 223:

(UK, Ireland, India) Certain private schools, particularly (initially) any grammar school operated apart from the personal lands of its students or (from the 19th century) the feepaying secondary schools which developed from or were modelled upon them; a British boarding school

Public School

(in the context of Britain) private grammar school; boarding school

private school

fee-charging private school, offering housing

Thither [to Douai] he went, where after a yeres great diligence and many excercises done booth in house and publike scholes, he proceded bachilier of diuinitie.

1582, W. Allen, Briefe Hist. Glorious Martyrdom, sig. d3

ante''' 1593, Christopher Marlowe, Tragicall Hist. Faustus (1604), sig. A3v
Ile haue them fill the publike schooles with skill. Wherewith the students shal be brauely clad.

That which is now called an University, is a Joyning together, and an Incorporation under one Government of many Publique Schools, in one and the same Town or City.

1651, Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, iv.xlvi.370:


proctor

Inherited from Middle English procatour, contraction of procuratour; compare proxy. Doublet of procurator.

(Canada, US, Philippines) A person who supervises students as they take an examination, in the United States at the college/university level; often the department secretary, or a fellow/graduate student; an invigilator.


Ph.D.

en-noun

Ph.D. (plural Ph.D's or Ph.D.'s or Ph.D.s)

Ph.D's (plural)
Ph.D.'s (plural)
Ph.D.s (plural)

/ˈpiːˌeɪ̯t͡ʃˈdiː/

Borrowed from New Latin Ph.D., an abbreviation of Philosophiae Doctor (“Doctor of Philosophy”).

abbrev

Ph.D’s will go to Kirk G. Rasmussen and Val Hicks.

1971 May 27, “24 Local Students Among ‘U’ Graduates”, in The Daily Herald, 98th year, number 214, Provo, Utah, page 6:

The shortage of holders of Ph.D’s in business school subjects has grown so severe in recent years that a panel was set up in 1980 by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business to study the problem.[…]However, it has already led to modification of accrediting standards such as the suggested use of nonbusiness Ph.D’s with doctorates in psychology, mathematics and economics.[…]Still another question raised in the report centered on how to encourage more educational institutions to turn out more Ph.D.’s in business.[…]He suggests a national contest for undergraduates to encourage them to work for Ph.D.’s in accounting.

1982 August 20, “Business schools take action to alleviate teacher shortages”, in Southern Illinoisan, volume 90, number 195, Carbondale, Ill., page A-4:

Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, a terminal research degree, the highest of academic degrees conferred by a college or university.

There are 12 Ph.D’s in the Concordia faculty of 62, according to Dr. P. A. Zimmerman, President, with others nearing the completion of doctorate requirements.

1961 February 26, “Doctorates Are Received by Six”, in Sunday Journal and Star, 94th year, number 9, Lincoln, Neb., page 3B:

The uncertainty of the job market has a new meaning for Ph.D’s these days: Prospects Highly Depressing.

1971 January 14, “Ph.D’s Finding Job Prospects Depressing”, in The Pensacola News, Pensacola, Fla.:

He also directs a post-doctoral program in behavioral medicine in which Ph.D’s receive training for very special kinds of treatment.

1988 September 1, Cecilia Bush, “Flying high, firmly grounded”, in The Catholic Advance, volume CXXII, number 34, Wichita, Kan., page 1, columns 1–2:

Growing up the daughter of two Ph.D.s in geology, young Lucy Chronic was more likely to hear discussions of plate tectonics than the prospects of the local ball team's chance of winning the pennant.

2004, Lucy Chronic, Halka Chronic, Pages of Stone, 2nd edition, The Mountaineers Books, →ISBN, end material: About the Authors, page 174:

(informal) A person who holds a Ph.D. degree.


Doctor of Arts

A terminal degree similar to an Ed.D. or a Ph.D., but with a focus on content speciality; it may be conferred as a prestigious honorary doctorate with the added designation of "honoris causa". Commonly abbreviated DA.


Ed.D.

Abbreviation of Doctor of Education, a terminal research doctorate with a focus on education.


Doctor of Musical Arts

en-noun

Doctor of Musical Arts (plural Doctors of Musical Arts)

A terminal degree intended for musicians who wish to combine the highest attainments in their major area with proven accomplishment in theoretical studies and musicology.


D.B.A.

database analyst
database analyst#English


MEP

(education, Singapore) Initialism of Music Elective Programme.


whiteboard

→ German: Whiteboard

→ Swedish: whiteboard

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-whiteboard.wav

From white + board, modelled on blackboard.

(by extension, computing) A collaborative tool allowing several users to write and draw on the same shared display.


Florida

New York City, Philadelphia, traditional Eastern New England (except for Boston), Ireland

From Spanish florida (“flowery”), often referring to a place's abundance of flowers. The state's name specifically is a shortening of la Florida (“the flowery one”) or Pascua Florida (“flowery Easter”). It is the oldest surviving European-given place-name in the US. The village in Orange County, New York was named in the 1760s from Latin flōrida (“flowery”).

Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · Florida · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming

American Samoa · Guam · Northern Mariana Islands · Puerto Rico · United States minor outlying islands · United States Virgin Islands


DML

(computing) Initialism of Dimensional Markup Language.

DML consists of four commonly used statements: INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, and MERGE.

2015, Miguel Cebollero, Michael Coles, Jay Natarajan, Pro T-SQL Programmer's Guide, Apress, →ISBN, page 4:

(databases) Initialism of Data Manipulation Language.


DML

Initialism of Doctor of Modern Languages (a terminal degree similar to both the D.A. (Doctor of Arts) and Ph.D. in Foreign Languages. See also: doctor)


Louisiana

From French Louisiane, named for King Louis XIV of France.

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and especially its athletic program, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns.


Maine

Gallia Celtica
Maine (disambiguation)
Maine (province)
Maine (state)

From French Maine, named by its French explorers after the province in France with the same name, in turn named after the river with the same name that runs through it. From Old French Cemaine, from Latin *Cenomania, from the name of the Gaulish Cenomani tribe of Gallia Celtica. The word was rebracketed as ce (“this”) + Maine, and the ce- was lost by the 12th century.


field trip

As I wrote we have a field trip scheduled (starting in about 1 hour to be exact since it's now 6 AM). We will take 72 of the second years to the coal mines, asbestos factory, steel mills in Enugu then up to Nnsuka.

2013, Eileen M. Jones, Letters From Nigeria: Experiences of a Peace Corps Volunteer, page 94:

A trip, usually in a group and especially by students, to a place of special interest for education, research or exploration; a trip into the field.


hamburger

hamburger (countable and uncountable, plural hamburgers)

→ Burmese: ဟမ်ဘာဂါ (hambhaga)

→ Dutch: hamburger

→ Estonian: hamburger

→ French: hamburger m

→ German: Hamburger m

→ Bulgarian: хамбургер (hamburger)

→ Hungarian: hamburger

→ Japanese: ハンバーガー

→ Italian: hamburger m

desc

→ Khmer: ហាំប៊ឺហ្គឺ (hambɨɨgɨɨ)

→ Khmer: ហាំប៊ឺហ្គឺ (hambɨɨgɨɨ)

→ Korean: 햄버거 (haembeogeo)

→ Macedonian: хамбургер (hamburger)

→ Mongolian: хамбургер (xamburger)

→ Persian: همبرگر

→ Polish: hamburger

→ Portuguese: hambúrguer m

→ Romanian: hamburger m

→ Russian: га́мбургер (gámburger)

→ Mongolian: гамбургер (gamburger)

→ Swahili: hambaga

แฮมเบอร์เกอร์

→ Thai: แฮมเบอร์เกอร์ (hɛm-bəə-gə̂ə)

→ Thai: แฮมเบอร์เกอร์ (hɛm-bəə-gə̂ə)

→ Turkish: hamburger

→ Vietnamese: hăm-bơ-gơ

/ˈhæmˌbɜː.ɡə/

/ˈhæmˌbɝ.ɡɚ/

Shortening of Hamburger sandwich, Hamburger steak, etc.; or, less likely, borrowed from German Hamburger (“native of Hamburg”), equivalent to Hamburg + -er.

Coordinate term: hot dog

(US, education, informal) Describing the shape of a rectangular piece of paper folded in half so that it forms a short rectangle.


grid

en-verb

grid (third-person singular simple present grids, present participle gridding, simple past and past participle gridded)

grids (present singular third-person)
gridding (participle present)
gridded (participle past)
gridded (past)

Back-formation or clipping of griddle or gridiron.

On the SAT, to answer a grid-in question, you grid in your answer by filling out the ovals.


knock out

knock out (third-person singular simple present knocks out, present participle knocking out, simple past and past participle knocked out)

knocks out (present singular third-person)
knocking out (participle present)
knocked out (participle past)
knocked out (past)

→ Macedonian: нокаут (nokaut)

→ Portuguese: nocaute

→ Russian: нокаут (nokaut)

→ Serbo-Croatian: нокаут

→ Spanish: nocaut

→ Turkish: nakavt

"Hullo!" he said, getting up; "time for me to knock out, or old Copas will be in bed. […]"

1861, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, London: Macmillan and Co., published 1883, page 503:

(obsolete, Oxford University slang) To leave college after hours—after half-past ten at night when the doors have been locked.


reception

en-noun

reception (countable and uncountable, plural receptions)

/ɹɪˈsɛp.ʃn̩/

Borrowed from Middle French reception, from Latin recipiō(n) (“the act of receiving; reception”), from recipiō (“receive”), from re- (“back”) + capiō (“I hold”).

der

(UK, education) The school year, or part thereof, between preschool and Year 1, when children are introduced to formal education.


lioness

From Middle English leonesse, lyonesse, from Old French leonesse, lionesse; equivalent to lion + -ess.

When "lionesses" visiting Oxford for the gay doings of commemoration week spend a morning at Merton, they should look out for Antony Wood's mural tablet in the chapel, […]

1871, John Cordy Jeaffreson, Annals of Oxford, page 305:

"Now, boys, keep your eyes open, there must be plenty of lionesses about;" and thus warned, the whole load, including the cornopean player, were on the look-out for lady visitors, profanely called lionesses, all the way up the street.

1888, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, page 271:

(Oxford University slang, obsolete) A female visitor to a student at Oxford, especially during commemoration week.


prep

en-noun

prep (countable and uncountable, plural preps)


minor

en-adj

minor (comparative more minor, superlative most minor)

more minor (comparative)
most minor (superlative)

antonym(s) of

serious, grave, severe, dangerous, fatal, life-threatening, acute (informal)

From Middle English minor, menor, menour, etc., from Latin minor (“lesser; young; young person”) both directly and via Norman and Middle French menor, menour, etc. Doublet of minus but not mini-. Cognate with minister, minify, Minorca, Menshevik, and possibly minnow. Compare Latin minimum and minuō, Old High German minniro, Cornish minow.

der

The minor requirements only involve about 20 hours of classes.

Lesser, smaller in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance compared to another option, particularly:

(Canada, US, education) Of or related to a minor, a secondary area of undergraduate study.


minor

byvak

subject of secondary undergraduate study

I got a minor in English Lit.

(Canada, US, education) A formally recognized secondary area of undergraduate study, requiring fewer course credits than the equivalent major.

I became an English minor.

(Canada, US, education, uncommon) A person who is completing or has completed such a course of study.


major

en-adj

major (comparative more major, superlative most major)

more major (comparative)
most major (superlative)

From Middle English major, from Latin maior, comparative of magnus (“great, large; noble, important”), from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂yōs (“greater”), comparative of *meǵh₂- (“great”). Compare West Frisian majoar (“major”), Dutch majoor (“major”), French majeur. Doublet of mayor.

(education) Of or relating to a subject of academic study chosen as a field of specialization.


major

pääaineopiskelija

student specializing in a specified subject

Midway through his second year of college, he still hadn't chosen a major.

(education, Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand) The principal subject or course of a student working toward a degree at a college or university.

She is a math major.

A student at a college or university specializing on a given area of study.


form

en-noun

form (countable and uncountable, plural forms)

→ Korean: 폼 (pom)

→ Norwegian Bokmål: form

From Middle English forme (“shape, figure, manner, bench, frame, seat, condition, agreement, etc.”), borrowed from Old French forme, from Latin fōrma (“shape, figure, image, outline, plan, mold, frame, case, etc., manner, sort, kind, etc.”).
In sense "division grouping school students" (now dated), derived from public school nomenclature later adopted by state schools. It is sometimes said to be from the sense of "bench", where students of certain ages would sit together, though this is disputed, or alternatively from the sense of "established method of expression or practice".

der

imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

(social) To do with structure or procedure.

(UK, education) A class or year of school pupils.

To do with structure or procedure.
A class or year of school pupils.

Nathaniel: Maister, there is nobody to teach in the sixth form.
Maister: What a thing is this?
N: He is sick in bed.
M: How do you know?
N: One of the scholars in his house told me so.

1653, Corderius, Colloquia scholastica Anglo-Latina, […] 1653, page 220:

I am a very weak, insufficient scholar, sitting on the lowest form in Thy great school-house, which is the whole world, and trying to spell out the mere letters of Thy alphabet […]

1880, Charles Kingsley, Out of the Deep: Words for the Sorrowful, London: Macmillan & Co., page 190:

One other day after afternoon school, Mr. Percival came behind me and put his hand on me. "Let me see, what's your name? Which form are you in?[…]"

1928, George Bickerstaff, The mayor, and other folk:

From the sixth form will come the scholars and the administrators.

1976, Ronald King, School and college: studies of post-sixteen education:

(UK, education, dated) A numbered division grouping school students (usually every two years) in education between Years 1 and 13 (often preceded by an ordinal number to specify the form, as in sixth form).


GCSE

You need GCSEs in Maths and English to work here.

General Certificate of Secondary Education#English

(UK, education) Initialism of General Certificate of Secondary Education: a British qualification taken by secondary school students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.


AS

(education, UK, historical) Initialism of Advanced Supplementary.

AS-level

Advanced Subsidiary
w:Advanced Subsidiary

(education, UK) Initialism of Advanced Subsidiary.


course

→ Gulf Arabic: كورس (kōrs)

From Middle English cours, from Old French cours, from Latin cursus (“course of a race”), from currō (“run”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”). Doublet of cursus and cour.

polku

path that something or someone moves along

the course of true love never did run smooth

I need to take a French course.

a series of lectures or lessons in a particular subject

What's your course in university?
—Business studies. And you?

During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant[…]

1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond:

(UK, Ireland) an educational programme at a college or university leading to an academic degree or vocational qualification.

Her course will be ‘Communication Studies with Theatre Studies’: God, how tedious, how pointless.

Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.

2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

A sequence of events.
(education) A learning programme

A sequence of events.
A learning programme


BBS

en-noun

BBS (countable and uncountable, plural BBSes or BBSs)

Business Studies
business studies#English

(education) Abbreviation of Bachelor of Business Studies.


little

little (countable and uncountable, plural littles)

From Middle English litel, from Old English lyttel, lȳtel, from Proto-West Germanic *lūtil, from Proto-Germanic *lūtilaz (“tending to stoop, crouched, little”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewd- (“to bend, bent, small”), equivalent to lout + -le. Cognate with Dutch luttel, regional German lütt and lützel, Saterland Frisian litje, West Frisian lyts, Low German lütt, lüttje. Related also to Old English lūtan (“to bow, bend low”); and perhaps to Old English lytiġ (“deceitful”), Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍄𐍃 (liuts, “deceitful”); compare also Icelandic lítill (“little”), Faroese lítil, Swedish liten, Danish liden, lille, Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌹𐌻𐍃 (leitils), which appear to have a different root vowel. More at lout.

der

He was there the night of Cristoph's party. All the littles were assigned to their bigs. Ian and Christoph had rushed the same fraternity. When they became upperclassmen, they both ended up on the board.

2018, Kelly Ann Gonzales, Through an Opaque Window:

She added that the relationship between bigs and littles is "what each pair makes of it," and that a lot of the pairs often get dinner together and become close friends.

2019 April 1, Audrey Steinkamp, “Sororities pair new members with "bigs"”, in Yale Daily News:

Some traditions of the chapter include lineages with bigs and littles, receiving of paddles from a big, and a national stroll, Wolsch-Gallia said.

2022 September 27, Shreya Varrier, “Gamma Rho Lambda provides LGBTQIA+ community in greek life”, in Iowa State Daily:

An adult in a child-like role, or in the more junior of two paired roles.

(countable, university slang) A newly initiated member of a sorority or fraternity, who is mentored by a big.


final

→ Japanese: ファイナル (fainaru)

→ Korean: 파이널 (paineol)

→ Swahili: fainali

From Middle English final, fynal, fynall, from Old French final, from Latin fīnālis (“of or relating to the end or to boundaries”), from fīnis (“end”); see fine. Replaced native English endly (“final”).

It was tough cramming for those midterms and finals, staying up 72 hours straight hepped up on caffeine and pizza.

2005 April 13, Robert MacMillan, “Steal This Song”, in The Washington Post, retrieved 2008-10-03:

(US, Canada) A final examination; a test or examination given at the end of a term or class; the test that concludes a class.

заключителен изпит

(Oxbridge slang) A final examination taken at the end of the final year of an undergraduate course, which contributes towards a student's degree classification.


March Madness

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-March Madness.wav

From the month of March, during which most of the tournament matches take place. The "madness" part is probably an allusion to the phrase mad as a March hare.

(basketball, US) The NCAA Division I basketball championship tournaments.


Final Four

These two teams have an amazing number of Final Fours between them.

(basketball, US, informal) An appearance in the Final Four.


Oxbridge

On the previous night he had taken the manuscript out of a long neglected chest, containing old shooting jackets, old Oxbridge scribbling books, his old surplice, and battered cap and gown, and other memorials of youth, school, and home.

1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter III, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume II, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:

"Of course she is clever," said Mrs. Pope. "Or we shouldn't have sent her to Oxbridge. There she's doing quite well—quite well. Everyone says so. I don't know, of course, if Mr. Magnet will let her finish there."

1912, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, Marriage, London: Macmillan and Co., Limited […], →OCLC, book the first (Marjorie Marries), page 152:

In another, he says: “Why has the BBC allowed the format of this programme to treat all other universities in the UK apart from Oxbridge as second class?”

2023 March 26, Matthew Weaver, “BBC rejects charge of elitist Oxbridge bias in University Challenge”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(UK, education) The University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge collectively.


Cambridge

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-Cambridge.wav

From Middle English Cantebrigge, Grentebrige, from Old English Grante bryċġ, Granta-briċġ, Grantanbryċġ (“Granta-bridge”). Granta is probably of Celtic origin, identified as Brythonic settlement, Cair Grauth. Doublet of Cam.
By Middle English when the name of the settlement had changed to "Cantebrigge" and eventually "Cambridge", the lower stretches of the River Granta were renamed Cam by back-formation from Cambridge.

He went to Cambridge, you know.

University of Cambridge
w:University of Cambridge


adviser

(Philippines, education) Short for class adviser.


shark

en-noun

shark (countable and uncountable, plural sharks)

Shark meat
Thomas Beckington
shark
shark (moth)

From Middle English shark (used by Thomas Beckington in 1442 to refer to a kind of fish), of uncertain origin. Most likely from a semantic extension of the German-derived shark (“scoundrel”), see below. The fish was originally called a dogfish or haye in English and Middle English.
alternative theories
Some older dictionaries derived the word from Latin c(h)archarias, c(h)acharus (from Ancient Greek), but admit that "the requisite [Old French] forms intermediate between E. shark and L. carcharus are not found, and it is not certain that the name [shark] was orig. applied to the fish; it may have been first used of a greedy man".
Other older authorities speculated that the word might derive from Yucatec Maya xok (“fish”) (/ʃok/), as John Hawkins brought a specimen from the area where Mayan was spoken to England in the 1560s. However, the 1442 use rules out a New World origin for the word.

shock (non-rhotic, father-bother merger)

(UK, university slang, countable) A university student who is not a fresher that has engaged in sexual activity with a fresher; usually habitually and with multiple people.


shark

en-verb

shark (third-person singular simple present sharks, present participle sharking, simple past and past participle sharked)

sharks (present singular third-person)
sharking (participle present)
sharked (participle past)
sharked (past)

(UK, university slang) Of a university student who is not a fresher: to engage in sexual activity with a fresher, or to be at a bar or club with the general intention of engaging in such activity.


intensive

The adjective is derived from Late Middle English intensive (“fervent, great, intense”), borrowed from Old French intensif, intensive (modern French intensif) + Middle English -ive (suffix meaning ‘of the nature of, relating to’ forming adjectives), equivalent to intense + -ive. Intensif is from Medieval Latin intēnsīvus, from Latin intēnsus (“attentive; eager, intent; intensive”) + -īvus (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘doing; related to doing’); and intēnsus is the perfect passive participle of intendō (“to stretch out, strain”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘to, towards’) + tendō (“to extend, stretch, stretch out”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tend- (“to extend, stretch”)). Doublet of intend.
The noun is derived from the adjective.

der

Beginning in 2014, ETSI [the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative] embarked on a six-year implementation phase at three monastic universities (Sera, Ganden, and Drepung). This program is composed of summer intensives taught by faculty from Emory and other institutions, year-round study led by on-site instructors, translation and production of bilingual textbooks and instructional videos, and further curriculum refinement.

2017, “Supporting Organizations”, in Wendy Hasenkamp, Janna R. White, editors, The Monastery and the Microscope: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Mind, Mindfulness, and the Nature of Reality, New Haven, Conn.; London: Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 372:

(education) A course taught intensively, involving much activity in a short period of time.


public

en-adj

public (comparative more public, superlative most public)

more public (comparative)
most public (superlative)

The adjective and noun are derived from Late Middle English publik, publike (“(adjective) generally observable, public; relating to the general public or public affairs; (noun) a generally observable place or situation”), from Anglo-Norman public, publik, publique, Middle French public, publique, and Old French public (“(adjective) generally observable, public; relating to the general public; official; (noun) community or its members collectively; nation, state; audience, spectators collectively”) (modern French public, publique (obsolete)); and from their etymon Latin pūblicus (“of or belonging to the community, people, or state; general, public”), an alteration of poplicus (influenced by pūbēs (“adult men; male population”)), from poplus (“community; the people, public; nation, state”) (later populus; from Proto-Italic *poplos (“army”); further origin uncertain, possibly from Etruscan or from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”)) + -icus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). Doublet of people.
The Middle English word displaced native Old English ceorlfolc and folclic.
The verb is derived from the adjective.

publik

open to all members of a community, as opposed to only a segment of it

nobody ever went broke underestimating the good taste of the American public

nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public

nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public

no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public

no one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public

I meruailled, why himſelf [Niccolò Leoniceno] did not practiſe Phiſike of whiche facultee he was a Doctour, and a publique reader: I auaile moche more, ſaieth he, in that I teach all thother Phiſiciãs [physicians].

1564 February, Erasmus, “The Saiynges of Socrates”, in Nicolas Udall [i.e., Nicholas Udall], transl., Apophthegmes, that is to Saie, Prompte, Quicke, Wittie and Sentẽcious Saiynges, […], London: […] Ihon Kingston, →OCLC, book I, folio 4, recto, paragraph 11:

(UK, education, chiefly historical) In some older universities in the United Kingdom: open or pertaining to the whole university, as opposed to a constituent college or an individual staff member or student.


public

en-noun

public (countable and uncountable, plural publics)

yleisö

particular demographic or group of people, or segment of the population, sharing some common characteristic; (sociology) group of people sharing some common interest, but not necessarily having any interactions with each other

(US, university slang) At Harvard University: a penalty imposed on a student involving a grade reduction which is communicated to the student's parents or guardian.


SCR

SCR (countable and uncountable, plural SCRs)

(education) Initialism of senior common room (in British universities).


PTC

(education) Principals' Training Center.


PAL

PAL (countable and uncountable, plural PALs)

(education) Acronym of peer-assisted learning.


uni

I'm going to uni after I leave school.

Turn left when you reach the uni.

(colloquial, chiefly UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) University.


hat

Sranan Tongo: ati

From Middle English hat, from Old English hætt, from Proto-Germanic *hattuz (“hat”), from Proto-Indo-European *kadʰ- (“to guard, cover, care for, protect”). Cognate with North Frisian hat (“hat”), Danish hat (“hat”), Swedish hatt (“hat”), Icelandic hattur (“hat”), Finnish hattu (“hat”), Latin cassis (“helmet”), Lithuanian kudas (“bird's crest or tuft”), Avestan 𐬑𐬀𐬊𐬛𐬀 (xaoda, “hat”), Persian خود (xud, “helmet”), Welsh cadw (“to provide for, ensure”). Compare also hood.

cog

I knew intimately all the 'Hats' in the University, and I was henceforth looked up to by the 'Caps,' as if my head had gained the height of every hat that I knew.

1830, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, chapter 32, in Paul Clifford:

(Cambridge University slang, obsolete) A student who is also the son of a nobleman (and so allowed to wear a hat instead of a mortarboard).


GCE

General Certificate of Education
w:General Certificate of Education

(education) Initialism of General Certificate of Education.


GCE

Global Campaign for Education
w:Global Campaign for Education

(education) Initialism of Global Campaign for Education.


NVQ

National Vocational Qualification
w:National Vocational Qualification

(UK, education) Initialism of National Vocational Qualification.


PRC

en-noun

PRC (countable and uncountable, plural PRCs)

(education) Initialism of Preschool Referral Committee.


ma'am

The noun is a contraction of madam, and represents a regional pronunciation of that word in the United Kingdom. The verb is derived from the noun.

(archaic) (US, education) A female schoolteacher; a schoolmarm.


Minnesota

[ˌmɪnɪˈsoʊɾə]

From Lakota mní šóta (literally “cloudy water”).

der

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.


student

From Middle English student, studient, from Old French estudiant, estudiente, from Latin studēns, present participle of studeō (“dedicate oneself to, study”). Equivalent to study + -ent.

طَالِب

person enrolled at a school, university or other education institution

nxënës

person enrolled at a university — see also university student

She is a student of human interactions.

He is a student of life.

I am not tall enough to become the function well, nor leane enough to bee thought a good Studient : but to be ſaid an honeſt man and a good houſkeeper goes as fairely, as to ſay, a carefull man, & a great ſcholler. The Competitors enter.

c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 271, column 1:

The student of marine life in Southern California should become aware that […] a great many changes have taken place during the past century that have modified the characters of the plant and animal communities of the seashore.

1966, E. Yale Dawson, Seashore Plants of Southern Califonria, 3rd printing, Berkley: University of California Press, published 1975, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 6:

A person who studies or learns about a particular subject.

The students were out raising funds for rag week.

In general, alſo, it may be obſerved, that a greater degree of gentility is affixed to the character of a ſtudent in England than elſewhere ; by which means our clergy have an opportunity of ſeeing better company while young, and of ſooner wearing off thoſe prejudices which they are apt to imbibe even in the beſt regulated univerſities, and which may be juſtly termed the vulgar errors of the wiſe.

a. 1774, Oliver Goldsmith, “Essay XII”, in The Miscellaneous Works of Dr. Goldsmith, volume III, Edinburgh: Geo. Mudie, published 1792, page 71:

In behalf of manhood and common sense, he would protest against such a conclusion ; and if any pale student, glued to his desk here, seek an apology for a way of life whose natural fruit is that pallid and emasculate scholarship of which New England has had too many examples, it will be far better that this sketch had not been written.

1868, Charles Haight Farnham, quoting Francis Parkman, Autobiography, quoted in “Spiritual Growth”, in A Life of Francis Parkman, Toronto: George N. Morang and Company, published 1900, page 321:

A handful of young students bent on showing their patriotism had stirred up more trouble than they possibly could have imagined.

1971, Lyndon Johnson, The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 180:

A person who is formally enrolled at a school, a college or university, or another educational institution.

(in particular) A person who is enrolled at a college or university (as contrasted with a pupil or schoolchild attending a primary or secondary school).


bowl

Bislama: bol

→ Esperanto: bovlo

desctree

→ French: bol
→ Catalan: bol
→ Greek: μπολ (bol)

→ German: Bowle, → Bowl

→ Hungarian: bólé

→ Ido: bolo

→ Irish: bolla

→ Japanese: ボール (bōru)

→ Latvian: bole (probably via German)

→ Korean: 볼 (bol)

→ Scottish Gaelic: bòl

→ Swedish: bål

From Middle English bolle, from Old English bolla, bolle (“bowl, cup, pot, beaker, measure”), from Proto-West Germanic *bollā, from Proto-Germanic *bullǭ (“ball, round vessel, bowl”).
Cognate with North Frisian bol (“bun, bread roll”), Middle Low German bolle, bole (“round object”), Dutch bol (“ball, sphere, scoop, dot”), German Bolle (“bulb”), Danish bolle (“bowl, bread roll”), Icelandic bolli (“cup”). Doublet of boule and pulla.

inh

(American football) A postseason football competition, a bowl game (i.e. Rose Bowl, Super Bowl)


para

(US, education, informal) Clipping of paraprofessional educator.


fine

→ Swahili: faini

From Middle English fyn, fyne, from Old French fin, from Medieval Latin fīnis (“a payment in settlement or tax”). Doublet of fin and finis.

der

Fine if you've…

(Cambridge University slang) A drink that must be taken during a meal or as part of a drinking game, following an announcement that anyone who has done some (usually outrageous) deed is to be fined; similar to I have never; commonly associated with swaps; very similar to a sconce at Oxford University, though a fine is the penalty itself rather than the act of issuing it.


Texas

Borrowed from Spanish Texas (also Tejas), from Hasinai Caddo táyshaʔ (“friend, ally”), used to refer to the Caddo nation.


counselor

counselors (plural)
in Canada (US alternative)

From Middle English conseillour, counseiler, from Anglo-Norman cunseiler, cunseiliour, from Old French conseillier, from Latin consiliator, agent noun from cōnsilior (“I take counsel”), from cōnsilium (“plan, council, wisdom, advice”). Compare councilor. Displaced native Middle English redere, Middle English redesman, and Middle English redyeve, from Old English rǣdġiefa (literally “advice giver”).

ncog

(education) A school counselor, often in a specialty such as careers, education, or health.


Michaelmas

From Middle English Michelmasse, Myghelmesse; equivalent to Michael + -mas.

(UK, Ireland, law, education) Ellipsis of Michaelmas term.


block

→ Dutch: block

→ German: Block

→ Irish: bloc

→ Manx: block

→ Maori: poraka

→ Norwegian: blokk

→ Polish: blok

desctree

→ Russian: блок (blok)
→ Armenian: բլոկ (blok)
→ Yakut: блок (blok)

→ Spanish: block

→ Vietnamese: lốc

From Middle English blok (“log, stump, solid piece”), from Old French bloc (“log, block”), from Middle Dutch blok (“treetrunk”), from Old Dutch *blok (“log”), from Proto-West Germanic *blokk, from Proto-Germanic *blukką (“beam, log”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵ- (“thick plank, beam, pile, prop”). Cognate with Old Frisian blok, Old Saxon blok, Old High German bloh, bloc (“block”), Old English bolca (“gangway of a ship, plank”), Old Norse bǫlkr (“divider, partition”). More at balk. See also bloc, bulk.

طَابُوقَة

substantial often approximately cuboid piece

թաղամաս

group of buildings demarcated by streets

A logical extent or region; a grouping or apportionment of like things treated together as a unit.

(education) A yeargroup at Eton College.


professor

→ Chickasaw: pofessa'

→ Fijian: parofesa

→ Hawaiian: polopeka

→ Hindi: प्रोफ़ेसर (profesar)

→ Malay: profesor

→ Niuean: palōfesa

→ Samoan: polofesa

→ Swahili: profesa

→ Tok Pisin: profesa

→ Tongan: palofesa

→ Urdu: پروفیسر (profesar)

Derived from Anglo-Norman proffessur, from Latin professor (“declarer, person who claims knowledge”), from the past participle stem of profiteor (“profess”).

der

Professor is what you become after teaching for twenty to thirty years.

2014 November 22, Michel Clasquin-Johnson, “What is the difference between a research professor and a professor”, in Quora:

The most senior rank for an academic at a university or similar institution.

(US, Philippines, informal) A teacher or faculty member at a college or university regardless of formal rank.

professor

higher ranking for a teacher or faculty member at a college or university

dosent

teacher or faculty member at a college or university, regardless of formal rank

Two young men of familiar acquaintance … were one euening at a common Inne of this town (as I haue heard) where the one of them shewed his skill on the Virginals, to the no little contentement of the hearers. Nowe as diuers guests of the house came into the room to listen, so among the rest entered an artificiall Conny-catcher, who as occasion serued, in the time of ceissing betweene the seueral toyes and fancies hee plaid: very much commended his cunning, quicke hand, and such qualities praiseworthy in such a professour.

1592, Robert Green, The Thirde & Last Part of Conny-catching, Bodleian Library (Malone 575), London: John Lane. Reprinted in 1923, Harrison, G. B. (ed.), The Bodley Head Quartos III, Plainstow, Great Britain: Curwen Press, p. 29

(obsolete) A practitioner, one who (publically) practises or teaches an art or skill.


sup

of supremum and of words beginning with super-

(Cambridge University slang) A supervision.

lup sup

etymologically unrelated to any of the above terms


gap year

A yearlong break from study taken by some students on leaving school before starting university, often spent gaining work experience or travelling.


Sodom

Partially from Old English Sodome, Sodoma, partially from Ancient Greek Σόδομα (Sódoma), from the Biblical Hebrew סְדֹם (s'dóm).
(Wadham College): Chosen for the rhyme.

(Oxford University slang, obsolete) Wadham College, Oxford.


bulldog

→ French: bouledogue

→ German: Bulldogge

→ Portuguese: buldogue

From bull + dog, in reference to bullbaiting.

[…] and was confronted by a “bulldog,” a proctor's assistant in charge of discipline, who asked if he was a member of the university since he wasn't wearing a gown, and he was able to say that he wasn't, […]

2019, Thomas Merton, Patrick F. O'Connell, Medieval Cistercian History (page lxxiii)

(UK, Oxford University slang) One of the proctors' officers.


section

From Middle English seccioun, from Old French section, from Latin sectiō (“cutting, cutting off, excision, amputation of diseased parts of the body, etc.”), from sectus, past participle of secāre (“to cut”). More at saw.

разрэ́з

surgery: incision or the act of making an incision

(Philippines, education) A class in a school; a group of students in a regularly scheduled meeting with a teacher in a certain school year or semester or school quarter year.


normal

en-adj

normal (comparative normaler or more normal, superlative normalest or most normal)

normaler (comparative)
more normal (comparative)
normalest (superlative)
most normal (superlative)

From Latin normālis (“made according to a carpenter's square; later: according to a rule”), from nōrma (“carpenter's square”), of uncertain origin; doublet of normale. The earliest meaning of the word in English was "perpendicular; forming a right angle" like something normālis (“made according to a carpenter's square”), but by Late Latin normālis had also come to mean "according to a rule", from which modern English senses of the word derive: in the 1800s, as people began to quantitatively study things like height, weight and blood pressure, the usual or most common values came to be called "normal", and by extension values regarded as healthy or desirable came to be called "normal" regardless of their usuality.

der

My grandmother attended Mankato State Normal School; my grandfather attended Illinois State Normal University.

PURPOSE AND SCOPE[:] The State Normal College prepares teachers for the public schools of Montana. It accomplishes its work through professional courses, directed observation of expert teaching, and […]

1928, Western Montana College, Western Montana College of Education, Catalogue of the Montana State Normal College, page 10:

(education, of a school) Teaching teachers how to teach; teaching teachers the norms of education.

師範 /师范

pertaining to a school to teach teachers how to teach


nursery

en-noun

nursery (countable and uncountable, plural nurseries)

Carolina Stanley
Fritz von Uhde
Kunsthalle Hamburg
María Eugenia Vidal

From Middle English noricerie, norserye (“children's nursery; state of being fostered or nursed; education, upbringing”) [and other forms], from Old French norricerie, nourricerie, from norrice, nourrice (modern French nourrice (“childminder, nanny; wet nurse”)) + -erie (suffix forming feminine nouns). Norrice and nourrice are derived from Late Latin nūtrīcia (“wet nurse”), from Latin nūtrīcius (“that nurses or suckles; nourishing”), from nūtriō (“to breastfeed, nurse, suckle”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₂- (“to flow”). The English word may be analysed as nourice, nurse + -ery (suffix forming nouns meaning ‘place of’).

refn

From the collection of the Kunsthalle Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.

nb...

norceri, norcerie, norcery, norcerye, norisri, norisrie, norisserie, norisserye, norserie, norserye, norsheri, norshery, norysrye, nursery

де́тска я́сла

place where nursing or the raising of children is carried out

разса́дник

place where anything is fostered and growth promoted

(countable) A place where nursing (“breastfeeding”) or the raising of children is carried on.

(UK, chiefly British) An institution for small children who not yet have begun primary school during daytime (when their parents work); a daycare centre.

я́слі

place where the pre-school children of working parents are supervised during the day — see also nursery school

(Philippines) The first year of pre-school.


fuzzy

Uncertain. Apparently from fuzz + -y, though some sources suggest that fuzz derives from fuzzy. Compare fozy, or Low German fussig (“loose; spongy”).

A "fuzzy" on the other hand is a "people person," — someone who prefers studying the humanities or social sciences, someone who sees the world in broad contextual terms.

2010, Donald Barr, Questioning the Premedical Paradigm […] , Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page 2:

If you majored in the humanities or social sciences, you were a fuzzy, and if you majored in engineering or computer science, you were a techie.

2017, Scott Hartley, The Fuzzy and the Techie […] , Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN:

(slang) A person, especially a college student, interested in humanities or social sciences, as opposed to one interested in mathematics, science, or engineering.


plough

en-verb

plough (third-person singular simple present ploughs, present participle ploughing, simple past and past participle ploughed)

ploughs (present singular third-person)
ploughing (participle present)
ploughed (participle past)
ploughed (past)

From Middle English plouh, plow, plugh(e), plough(e), plouw, from Old English plōh (“hide of land, ploughland”) and Old Norse plógr (“plough (the implement)”), both from Proto-Germanic *plōgaz, *plōguz (“plough”). Cognate with Scots pleuch, plou, North Frisian plog, West Frisian ploech, Low German Ploog, Dutch ploeg, Russian плуг (plug), German Pflug, Danish plov, Swedish and Norwegian plog, Icelandic plógur. Replaced Old English sulh (“plough, furrow”); see sullow.

der

The good Professor scolded, predicted that they would all be either gulfed or ploughed.

1863, Henry Kingsley, Austin Elliot, page 123:

You see, Miss Dodd, an university examination consists of several items: neglect but one, and Crichton himself would be ploughed; because brilliancy in your other papers is not allowed to count; that is how the most distinguished man of our day got ploughed for Smalls.

I knew one of that lot at Corpus; in fact, we were crammed by the same tutor for "smalls," and both got ploughed.

1895, Roger Pocock, The Rules of the Game:

(UK, university slang, transitive) To fail (a student).


EI

en-noun

EI (countable and uncountable, plural EIs)

(education) Initialism of extra instruction.


level

level (countable and uncountable, plural levels)

→ German: Level

→ Irish: leibhéal

desctree

→ Japanese: レベル (reberu)
→ Korean: 레벨 (rebel)

→ Welsh: lefel

From Middle English level, from Old French livel, liveau m, later nivel, niveau, from Latin libella f (“a balance, a level”), diminutive of libra f (“a balance, a level”); see libra, librate. Doublet of libella and niveau.
The verb is from Middle English levelen, from the noun.

(Singapore, education) A school grade or year.


letter grade

Do you give letter grades for class participation, or just for homework and exams?

(education) A letter of the alphabet assigned as an evaluation of schoolwork.