"varsity" meaning in English

See varsity in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈvɑː.sɪ.ti/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈvɑɹ.sɪ.ti/ [US], [ˈvɑɹsɪɾi] [US] Audio: En-ca-varsity.oga Forms: varsities [plural]
Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)sɪti Etymology: First attested in the mid 17th century. Clipping of univarsity, reflecting an archaic pronunciation of university. Etymology templates: {{etydate|mid 17th century}} First attested in the mid 17th century, {{clipping|en|univarsity}} Clipping of univarsity Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} varsity (countable and uncountable, plural varsities)
  1. (often attributive) university Tags: attributive, countable, often, uncountable
    Sense id: en-varsity-en-noun-rbpsDsio
  2. (sports, US) The principal sports team representing an institution (usually a high school, college, or university.) Tags: US, countable, uncountable Translations (sports team representing an institution): univerzitní tým (Czech), školní tým (Czech), universiteitsploeg [feminine] (Dutch), Unimannschaft [feminine] (German), Universitätsmannschaft [feminine] (German), varsidad [feminine] (Spanish), varsity (vársiti) [masculine] (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-varsity-en-noun-v~GUHu8d Categories (other): American English, Sports, English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Czech translations, Terms with Dutch translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Collectives, Sports Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 6 94 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 22 78 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 17 83 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 10 90 Disambiguation of Terms with Czech translations: 14 86 Disambiguation of Terms with Dutch translations: 18 82 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 18 82 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 9 91 Disambiguation of Collectives: 17 83 Disambiguation of Sports: 0 100 Topics: hobbies, lifestyle, sports Disambiguation of 'sports team representing an institution': 28 72
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: intervarsity, junior varsity, varsity letter, varsity jacket

Inflected forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "intervarsity"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "junior varsity"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "varsity letter"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "varsity jacket"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "mid 17th century"
      },
      "expansion": "First attested in the mid 17th century",
      "name": "etydate"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "univarsity"
      },
      "expansion": "Clipping of univarsity",
      "name": "clipping"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "First attested in the mid 17th century. Clipping of univarsity, reflecting an archaic pronunciation of university.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "varsities",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "varsity (countable and uncountable, plural varsities)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              79,
              86
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1853, Cuthbert Bede [pseudonym; Edward Bradley], “Mr. Verdant Green’s Morning Reflections are not so pleasant as his Evening Diversions”, in The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green, an Oxford Freshman, London: Nathaniel Cooke, […], →OCLC, page 71:",
          "text": "[…] and then to lyrically proclaim that, not only was it a way they had in the Varsity to drive dull care away, but that the same practice was also pursued in the army and navy for the attainment of a similar end.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "university"
      ],
      "id": "en-varsity-en-noun-rbpsDsio",
      "links": [
        [
          "university",
          "university"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(often attributive) university"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "attributive",
        "countable",
        "often",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Sports",
          "orig": "en:Sports",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 94",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "22 78",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "17 83",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "10 90",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "14 86",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Czech translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "18 82",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "18 82",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "9 91",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "17 83",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Collectives",
          "orig": "en:Collectives",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "0 100",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Sports",
          "orig": "en:Sports",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              95,
              102
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1903, Ralph Henry Barbour, C. M. Relyea, Weatherby's Inning: A Story of College Life and Baseball, New York: D. Appleton and Company:",
          "text": "There were sixteen of them in all, for the most part upper classmen who had failed to make the varsity the year before, with a sprinkling of sophomores and two freshmen.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              45,
              52
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2019 November 13, Luke Winkie, “Why Colleges Are Betting Big on Video Games”, in The Atlantic:",
          "text": "A small Pennsylvania university has only one varsity program: e-sports. Is this the future of college athletics?",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The principal sports team representing an institution (usually a high school, college, or university.)"
      ],
      "id": "en-varsity-en-noun-v~GUHu8d",
      "links": [
        [
          "sports",
          "sports"
        ],
        [
          "high school",
          "high school"
        ],
        [
          "college",
          "college"
        ],
        [
          "university",
          "university"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(sports, US) The principal sports team representing an institution (usually a high school, college, or university.)"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "sports"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "lang_code": "cs",
          "sense": "sports team representing an institution",
          "word": "univerzitní tým"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "lang_code": "cs",
          "sense": "sports team representing an institution",
          "word": "školní tým"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "lang_code": "nl",
          "sense": "sports team representing an institution",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "universiteitsploeg"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "sports team representing an institution",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Unimannschaft"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "sports team representing an institution",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Universitätsmannschaft"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "sports team representing an institution",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "varsidad"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "sports team representing an institution",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "varsity (vársiti)"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈvɑː.sɪ.ti/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈvɑɹ.sɪ.ti/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈvɑɹsɪɾi]",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-ca-varsity.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/49/En-ca-varsity.oga/En-ca-varsity.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/En-ca-varsity.oga"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɑː(ɹ)sɪti"
    }
  ],
  "word": "varsity"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English clippings",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ɑː(ɹ)sɪti",
    "Rhymes:English/ɑː(ɹ)sɪti/3 syllables",
    "Terms with Czech translations",
    "Terms with Dutch translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "en:Collectives",
    "en:Sports"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "intervarsity"
    },
    {
      "word": "junior varsity"
    },
    {
      "word": "varsity letter"
    },
    {
      "word": "varsity jacket"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "mid 17th century"
      },
      "expansion": "First attested in the mid 17th century",
      "name": "etydate"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "univarsity"
      },
      "expansion": "Clipping of univarsity",
      "name": "clipping"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "First attested in the mid 17th century. Clipping of univarsity, reflecting an archaic pronunciation of university.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "varsities",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "varsity (countable and uncountable, plural varsities)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              79,
              86
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1853, Cuthbert Bede [pseudonym; Edward Bradley], “Mr. Verdant Green’s Morning Reflections are not so pleasant as his Evening Diversions”, in The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green, an Oxford Freshman, London: Nathaniel Cooke, […], →OCLC, page 71:",
          "text": "[…] and then to lyrically proclaim that, not only was it a way they had in the Varsity to drive dull care away, but that the same practice was also pursued in the army and navy for the attainment of a similar end.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "university"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "university",
          "university"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(often attributive) university"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "attributive",
        "countable",
        "often",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "en:Sports"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              95,
              102
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1903, Ralph Henry Barbour, C. M. Relyea, Weatherby's Inning: A Story of College Life and Baseball, New York: D. Appleton and Company:",
          "text": "There were sixteen of them in all, for the most part upper classmen who had failed to make the varsity the year before, with a sprinkling of sophomores and two freshmen.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              45,
              52
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2019 November 13, Luke Winkie, “Why Colleges Are Betting Big on Video Games”, in The Atlantic:",
          "text": "A small Pennsylvania university has only one varsity program: e-sports. Is this the future of college athletics?",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The principal sports team representing an institution (usually a high school, college, or university.)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "sports",
          "sports"
        ],
        [
          "high school",
          "high school"
        ],
        [
          "college",
          "college"
        ],
        [
          "university",
          "university"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(sports, US) The principal sports team representing an institution (usually a high school, college, or university.)"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "sports"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈvɑː.sɪ.ti/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈvɑɹ.sɪ.ti/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈvɑɹsɪɾi]",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-ca-varsity.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/49/En-ca-varsity.oga/En-ca-varsity.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/En-ca-varsity.oga"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɑː(ɹ)sɪti"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "lang_code": "cs",
      "sense": "sports team representing an institution",
      "word": "univerzitní tým"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "lang_code": "cs",
      "sense": "sports team representing an institution",
      "word": "školní tým"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "lang_code": "nl",
      "sense": "sports team representing an institution",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "universiteitsploeg"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "sports team representing an institution",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Unimannschaft"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "sports team representing an institution",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Universitätsmannschaft"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "sports team representing an institution",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "varsidad"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "sports team representing an institution",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "varsity (vársiti)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "varsity"
}

Download raw JSONL data for varsity meaning in English (4.7kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-03-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-03-03 using wiktextract (05c257f and 9d9a410). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.