academy

UK: /əˈkædəmi/ US: /əˈkædəmi/ ,(ə kad′ə mē)

Inflections of 'academy' (n): npl: academies

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

a•cad•e•my /əˈkædəmi/   n. [countable] , pl. -mies. 

1. Education a secondary or high school, esp. a private one.
2. Education an association or institution for the advancement of art, literature, or science.
3. Education a school or college for special training:
   a military academy.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

a•cad•e•my  (ə kad′ə mē), n., pl. -mies. 

1. Education a secondary or high school, esp. a private one.
2. Education a school or college for special instruction or training in a subject:
   a military academy.
3. Education an association or institution for the advancement of art, literature, or science:
   the National Academy of Arts and Letters.
4. Education a group of authorities and leaders in a field of scholarship, art, etc., who are often permitted to dictate standards, prescribe methods, and criticize new ideas.
5. the Academy:
   • Philosophy the Platonic school of philosophy or its adherents.
   • Ancient History academe (def. 3).
   • See French Academy. 
   • Fine Art See Royal Academy. 

• Greek akadé̄meia, equivalent. to Akádēm(os) Academus + -eia adjective, adjectival suffix
• Latin acadēmīa
• 1470–80

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

academy / əˈkædəmɪ/ noun ( -mies)

1. an institution or society for the advancement of literature, art, or science
2. a school for training in a particular skill or profession: a military academy
3. a secondary school: now used only as part of a name, and often denoting a private school
4. (in England) an inner-city school which is funded by the government and sometimes also privately but is not controlled by the local authority

Etymology: 16th Century: via Latin from Greek akadēmeia name of the grove where Plato taught, named after the legendary hero Akadēmos