colleges

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
college/ˈkɒlɪʤ/

▶noun

• 1 an educational establishment providing higher education or specialized professional or vocational training.

  ■ (in Britain) any of the independent institutions into which some universities are separated.

• 2 an organized group of professional people with particular aims, duties, and privileges.

– origin ME: from OFr., from L. collegium ‘partnership’, from collega (see colleague).