Colleague
/ˈkɒliːɡ/noun
A person you work with; a professional associate.
Did you know?Colleague traces back to Latin *collega*, “one elected with another,” from *com-* (“together”) + *legere* (“to choose, gather”), a root that also lies behind words about reading and collecting.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*leg-
“to gather, collect, choose”
Latin
Latin
legere
“to gather, pick out, choose; later, to read”
Latin
Latin
collega
“an associate in office, one chosen with another”
Old French
Old French
collegue
“associate, companion in office”
Middle English
English
collega / collegue
“a fellow officer or associate”
Modern English
English
colleague
“a person one works with”