Difficult Words to Spell — Colleague

The English language is an interesting because although it is grammatically a Germanic language, its vocabulary is not Germanic. In fact, less than 30% of the words found in English are of Germanic origin. The rest are borrowed from Latin, French, Greek, and others.

Dictionary Definition of Colleague

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Colleague is a noun borrowed from the Latin word collega. The first recorded use in English dates back to the 1500s.

The dictionary meaning of the word is as follows:

  • An associate or coworker typically worked in a profession or ecclesiastical or civil roles. 

Colleague is synonymous with a fellow worker.

Here are some example sentences to help you understand its dictionary meaning even more:

  • My colleagues spend their free time in the bowling hall, to be honest, I don’t see the appeal.
  • When the upper management wronged him, none of his colleagues came to his help.
  • If you are planning on leaving your job, don’t forget to get some letters of recommendation from your manager and colleagues.
  • It’s important to have a good relationship with your colleagues. After all, you are going to see them as much as you see your family!

How to Spell Colleague?

Colleague is misspelled frequently; the most common ways it is misspelled are:

  • collegue
  • collage
  • collegue

And so on.

The phonetic transcription of the word is kAH-leeg.

To Wrap Up

Spelling the word colleague can be a tricky, especially if you don’t know the meaning behind it. Colleague is defined as “a person who works with and shares knowledge with others in the same industry or trade”.

Pam is an expert grammarian with years of experience teaching English, writing and ESL Grammar courses at the university level. She is enamored with all things language and fascinated with how we use words to shape our world.

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