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
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
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
This week, my fellow Wellness colleague and experienced runner, David Oliver, wrote an inspiring piece about a 77-year-old who ran the Boston marathon this week.
—Sam Woodward, USA Today, 25 Apr. 2025
Cai and his two colleagues will hand over control of Tiangong to the incoming Shenzhou 20 astronauts, who will begin their six-month-long mission aboard the space station.
—Andrew Jones, Space.com, 24 Apr. 2025
Long and her colleagues are looking to see whether other parts of the eastern North American margin also have this crustal drip.
—Alexandra Witze, JSTOR Daily, 24 Apr. 2025
The Factors That Can Impact Your Brain Health After examining 59 different meta-analyses, Singh and her colleagues found 17 risk factors for dementia, late-life depression, and stroke that overlapped with one another.
—Cathy Cassata, Health, 24 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for colleague
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Sam Woodward, USA Today, 25 Apr. 2025
Cai and his two colleagues will hand over control of Tiangong to the incoming Shenzhou 20 astronauts, who will begin their six-month-long mission aboard the space station.
—Andrew Jones, Space.com, 24 Apr. 2025
Long and her colleagues are looking to see whether other parts of the eastern North American margin also have this crustal drip.
—Alexandra Witze, JSTOR Daily, 24 Apr. 2025
The Factors That Can Impact Your Brain Health After examining 59 different meta-analyses, Singh and her colleagues found 17 risk factors for dementia, late-life depression, and stroke that overlapped with one another.
—Cathy Cassata, Health, 24 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for colleague
Cite this Entry
“Colleague.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colleague. Accessed 6 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
colleague
noun
col·league
ˈkäl-ˌēg
: an associate in a profession or office
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