Meanings
- collectiveuncountableThe scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole.First known use 1956
Academia continues to provide scientific education, despite attempts to turn it into a system of professional schooling.
1 more example
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, archived from the original on 17 Jul 2020 - uncountableContinuous study at higher education institutions; scholarship.
Not every university graduate wishes to pursue academia.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient GreekἈκάδημος (Akádēmos)
- Ancient GreekἈκαδήμεια (Akadḗmeia)
- New Latinacadēmī̆a
- Englishacademia
Borrowed from New 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 Attica hero Akademos. Doublet of academe, academy, and Akademeia. Modern sense of “the world of universities and scholarship” recorded from 1956.
More words from New Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 學術界 /学术界, 學術圈 /学术圈
- 學術界 /学术界 (xuéshùjiè)scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
- 學術圈 /学术圈 (xuéshùquān)scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
- 學界 /学界 (xuéjiè)scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
- 學術 /学术 (xuéshù)institution of higher education
Danish akademia
- akademiascientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
Finnish akateeminen maailma, tiedeyhteisö
- akateeminen maailmascientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
- tiedeyhteisöscientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
- yliopistomaailmascientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
- yliopistoinstitution of higher education
- yliopistotinstitution of higher education
- akateeminen maailmainstitution of higher education
German Akademia, die akademische Welt
- Akademiascientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
- die akademische Weltscientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
Indonesian civitas academica
- civitas academicascientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
Italian accademia, università
- accademiascientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
- universitàinstitution of higher education
Korean 학계, 학문
- 학계 (hakgye)scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
- 학문 (hakmun)institution of higher education
Norwegian Bokmål den akademiske verden
- den akademiske verdenscientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
Polish akademia, akademia
- akademiascientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
- akademiainstitution of higher education
Portuguese academia
- academiainstitution of higher education
Spanish mundo académico, ámbito académico
- mundo académicoscientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
- ámbito académicoscientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
- academiainstitution of higher education
Swedish den akademiska världen
- den akademiska världeninstitution of higher education
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with academia
All rhymes →Cite this entry
academia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/academia
“academia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/academia. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “academia,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/academia.
Source: academia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.