colleague

noun

col·league ˈkä-(ˌ)lēg

: an associate or coworker typically in a profession or in a civil or ecclesiastical office and often of similar rank or status : a fellow worker or professional

colleagueship

ˈkä-(ˌ)lēg-ˌship

noun

Did you know?

Which of the following words come from the same source as colleague: college, legacy, collaborate, allegation, collar, relegate, delegate? It might be easier to guess if you know that the ancestor in question is legare, a Latin verb meaning "to choose or send as a deputy or emissary" or "to bequeath." All of the words in the list above except collaborate (which comes from the Latin collaborare, meaning "to labor together") and collar (from collum, collus, Latin for "neck") are descendants of legare.

Examples of colleague in a Sentence

Not since Cronkite's CBS mentor and colleague Edward R. Murrow lifted Senator Joe McCarthy by the skunk tail for public inspection had one TV broadcast reflected such a fateful climate change in public opinion. —

James Wolcott, Vanity Fair, June 2003

My colleague Gene Sperling and I were standing over my speakerphone, but for all Mario Cuomo knew we were on our knees. —

George Stephanopoulos, Newsweek, 15 Mar. 1999

Nineteenth-century naturalist Thomas Henry Huxley, a colleague of Charles Darwin, was the first to suggest that dinosaurs and birds were related. —

Laura Tangley, U.S. News & World Report, 6 July 1998

… it gets noticed no more than an hour later by another colleague of mine, whom I've never met personally but know to be an art historian … —

John Barth, Atlantic, March 1995

A colleague of mine will be speaking at the conference. on her first day at work her colleagues went out of their way to make her feel welcome

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

What are your goals as COO? To partner with our colleagues to fulfill our growth aspiration and turn the ordinary into the exceptional and our guests into fans. —

Jennifer Kester, Forbes, 22 Nov. 2024 The junior officer took off his coat and shoes and handed his weapon to a colleague. —

Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman, 21 Nov. 2024 Shortly before Gaetz withdrew his name from the running, Casten acknowledged the political pressures facing his GOP colleagues. —

Mike Lillis, The Hill, 21 Nov. 2024 Thune has served as whip since 2019 and campaigned heavily for his GOP colleagues during this election cycle, a metric often used to size up candidates' fundraising prowess and willingness to help out the party. —

Riley Beggin, USA TODAY, 21 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for colleague