Etymologically
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collega

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Pronunciation

  • /kolˈlɛ.ɡa/[1]

Forms

collega m or f by sense (masculine plural colleghi, feminine plural colleghe)[1] Old plurals include collegi and chollegi.[2][3] Medieval documents also have a masculine Latin form collegus, recorded at Bologna in 1252.[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin collēga (“colleague in office”), a learned word.[5][6][3] The same Latin word was borrowed as French collègue (from about 1500), Spanish colega (1545), Portuguese colega (1650) and Catalan col·lega.[2][6]

The Latin noun is formed with con- (“with”), and most sources take the rest from lēgō (“to appoint, delegate”), so that a colleague was one chosen or delegated together with another.[5][7][1][3] Nocentini derives it from Latin lēx (“law, agreement”), like collēgium.[6] The DEI points out that ⟨collēga⟩ stands to ⟨collēgium⟩ as conviva (“guest”) stands to convīvium (“banquet”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Dante's Paradiso (before 1321), where Saint Dominic is the “worthy colleague” of Saint Francis in steering Peter's ship: degno / collega fu a mantener la barca.[5][8][9] The sense is one who works with another towards a common end.[5][8]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the word also named a fellow holder of a public office, as in Giovanni Villani, and a fellow member of a guild.[2][8] The modern sense “fellow member of a profession or office” is recorded from Machiavelli, who wrote in 1513–1521 of a Roman tribune and his colleagues.[5][10]

Today collega names a fellow worker, especially in offices and the professions, and a fellow student at university.[11][12] In jocular or literary use it can mean an accomplice, as in Manzoni's “colleague in libertinage”.[12][13][3]

Timeline

  • 1252 – Medieval Latin collegus is recorded at Bologna.[4]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses collega in the Paradiso.[5][8]
  • Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses the plural for fellow officials.[2]
  • 1513–1521 – Machiavelli uses the word for a colleague in office.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A colleague: someone who does the same work, especially in an office: Stasera esco a cena con i colleghi.[11][12][13]
  2. A member of the same profession: L'avvocato si consultò con un collega.[11][13]
  3. A fellow student, especially at university (collega d'università).[11][12]
  4. (jocular or literary) A partner in misdeeds, an accomplice.[11][12][13]

Word family

  • colleganza

Usage notes

The word is masculine or feminine according to the person, with plurals colleghi and colleghe.[12][13][1] An obsolete feminine colléga “league, alliance”, formed from collegare, is recorded in Giovanni Villani before 1348.[4][8][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 15, 792
  3. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1012
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  9. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 284
  11. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  12. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  13. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse