Academia

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /ˌæ.kəˈdiː.mɪ.É™/, enPR: ă'kÉ™dēʹmÄ“É™
• US IPA: /ˌæk.əˈdi.mi.É™/, /ˌæk.əˈdi.mjÉ™/, /ˌæk.əˈdÉ›.mjÉ™/

• Rhymes: -iːmiÉ™; for some speakers macadamia
• Rhymes: -iːmjÉ™
• Rhymes: -É›mjÉ™

Origin

Latin acadēmīa, from Ancient Greek Ἀκαδημία, a grove of trees and gymnasium outside of Athens where Plato taught; from the name of the supposed former owner of that estate, the hero . See also academy, academe, Akademeia. Modern sense of "the world of universities and scholarship" recorded from 1956.

Full definition of academia

Noun

1. The scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole.
• 2013-07-20, The attack of the MOOCs, Since the launch early last year of ... two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.
2. Academia continues to provide scientific education, despite attempts to turn it into a system of professional schooling.
3. Continuous study at higher education institutions; scholarship.
   Not every university graduate wishes to pursue academia.

Related terms

• academe
• academy
• Akademeia