collegium

Did You Know?

English contains many words that were borrowed from Latin, either directly or often by way of French, which began to influence the development of English after the Norman Conquest of 1066. Collegium is borrowed from Latin as well, but its journey into the English language made an unusual stop at Russian, a Slavic language. Russian borrowed the Latin collegium ("society") as kollegiya, a word used for an advisory board or committee whose members share power. Kollegiya entered the English language in 1917, and with gradual modifications it was eventually restored to its original Latin spelling.