noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˌæk.əˈdiː.mɪ.ə/
Received-Pronunciation:ăk'ədēʹmēə
variant:/ˌæk.əˈdeɪ.mɪ.ə/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˌæk.əˈdi.mi.ə/
General-American:/ˌæk.əˈdi.mjə/
General-American:/ˌæk.əˈdɛm.i.ə/
General-American:/-ˈdɛm.jə/
variant:/ˌæk.əˈdeɪ.mi.ə/
rhymes with -iːmiə
rhymes with -iːmjə
rhymes with -ɛmjə
CMU ARPABET:AE2 K AH0 D IY1 M IY0 AH0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: collective, uncountable
Examples
Academia continues to provide scientific education, despite attempts to turn it into a system of professional schooling.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Continuous study at higher education institutions; scholarship.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Examples
Not every university graduate wishes to pursue academia.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
the academic world
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: academe
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: world, domain
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Ancient Greek Ἀκάδημος (Akádēmos) Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh2 Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ία (-ía) Ancient Greek Ἀκαδήμεια (Akadḗmeia)der. New Latin acadēmī̆abor. English academia Borrowed from New Latin acadēmīa, from Ancient Greek Ἀκαδημία (Akadēmía), a grove of trees and gymnasium outside of Athens where Plato taught; from the name of the supposed former owner of that estate, the Attica hero Akademos. Doublet of academe, academy, and Akademeia. Modern sense of “the world of universities and scholarship” recorded from 1956.
Across languages
Translations
26 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Chinese Mandarin:
學術界 /学术界
(xuéshùjiè)
— scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
Chinese Mandarin:
學術圈 /学术圈
(xuéshùquān)
— scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
Chinese Mandarin:
學界 /学界
(xuéjiè)
— scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
Danish:
akademia
— scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
Finnish:
akateeminen maailma
— scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
Finnish:
tiedeyhteisö
— scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
Finnish:
yliopistomaailma
— scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
German:
Akademia
— scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
German:
die akademische Welt
— scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
Indonesian:
civitas academica
— scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
Italian:
accademia
— scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
Korean:
학계
(hakgye)
— scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
Norwegian Bokmål:
den akademiske verden
— scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
Polish:
akademia
— scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
Spanish:
mundo académico
— scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
Spanish:
ámbito académico
— scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole
Chinese Mandarin:
學術 /学术
(xuéshù)
— institution of higher education
Finnish:
yliopisto
— institution of higher education
Finnish:
yliopistot
— institution of higher education
Finnish:
akateeminen maailma
— institution of higher education
Italian:
università
— institution of higher education
Korean:
학문
(hakmun)
— institution of higher education
Polish:
akademia
— institution of higher education
Portuguese:
academia
— institution of higher education
Spanish:
academia
— institution of higher education
Swedish:
den akademiska världen
— institution of higher education
