colleague

noun

col·​league ˈkä-(ˌ)lēg 

: an associate or coworker in a workplace or profession and often of similar rank or status : a fellow worker or professional

… team-building exercises can also help colleagues understand one another …

—States News Service

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.

Synonyms of colleague

• partner
• coworker
• associate
• buddy
• peer
• fellow

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

Despite being respected by his colleagues, the author of Moby-Dick worked for six days a week in the domed and columned Merchant’s Exchange Building at 55 Wall Street and was paid $4 a day, never receiving a raise in two decades. —Literary Hub, 14 Jan. 2026

The attention has also led to a few funny moments, including running into friends and colleagues who were shocked to recognize the family from a viral video. —Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 14 Jan. 2026

Agents told investigators that one of their colleagues opened fire Thursday after the driver put the truck in reverse and repeatedly slammed into an unoccupied car the agents had rented, smashing its headlights and knocking off its front bumper. —CBS News, 13 Jan. 2026

New Fortune colleague Angelica Ang takes a look at Anand Roy, who is working on the business of generative AI music with his startup Wubble AI. —Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 13 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle French collegue, from Latin collega, from com- + legare to depute — more at legate

First Known Use

circa 1533, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

colleague

noun

col·​league ˈkäl-ˌēg 

: an associate in a profession or office