Meaning

An institution for the study of higher learning; a college or a university; typically a private school..

Definitions by Sense

1. An institution for the study of higher learning; a college or a university; typically a private school.
2. A school or place of training in which some special art is taught.
3. A society of learned people united for the advancement of the arts and sciences, and literature, or some particular art or science.
4. (with the, without reference to any specific academy) Academia.
5. A body of established opinion in a particular field, regarded as authoritative.
6. (UK, education) A school directly funded by central government, independent of local control; a charter school.
7. (classical studies, usually capitalized) The garden where Plato taught.
8. (classical studies, usually capitalized) Plato's philosophical system based on skepticism; Plato's followers.

Example Sentences

The artists of London had long maintained a private academy for improvement in the art of drawing from living figures

In this year 1633, I became acquainted with Nicholas Fiske, licentiate in physic, who was born in Suffolk, near Framingham* Castle, of very good parentage, who educated him at country schools, until he was fit for the university; but he went not to the academy, studying at home both astrology and physic, which he afterwards practised in Colchester; and there was well acquainted with Dr Gilbert, who wrote "De Magnete".

the military academy at West Point; a riding academy; the Academy of Music; a music academy; a language academy

Rudolf was the bold, bad Baron of traditional melodrama. Irene was young, as pretty as a picture, fresh from a music academy in England. He was the scion of an ancient noble family; she an orphan without money or friends.

the French Academy; the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; academies of literature and philology

In the academy and outside of it, the privileging of technical expertise above other forms of knowledge is a political gesture, and one that has proved highly effective in neutralizing critique of established power relations.

Word Forms

• academies

Synonyms for academy

Related Words

When Should You Use Academy?

Use academy when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

Practice This Word

Frequently Asked Questions