Collegi

Collegi is the plural form of the Italian noun collegio. In Italian, collegio has several related meanings. It can refer to an educational institution, especially a secondary school or a college, and it can also denote a college community or residence for students who live and study there. Beyond education, collegio can designate a formal body or assembly composed of members who share a common function or profession, such as a board, council, or guild within a civic, academic, or ecclesiastical context. In ecclesiastical usage, collegio is used for bodies of clergy; for example, the Collegio Cardinalizio corresponds to the College of Cardinals. In political language, collegio elettorale denotes an electoral college, the body that casts votes in certain elections.

Etymology: The term derives from Latin collegium, meaning a collective body or association of colleagues. Related terms appear in other Romance languages, including Spanish colegio, French collège, and Portuguese colégio.

Notable usage: Italian universities may organize residential colleges or “collegi” for students or scholars, and many towns have historic schools or civic institutions that carry the name collegio. In modern Italian, the plural collegi is used when referring to multiple colleges or collegiate bodies, distinct from individual colleges within a university or from other kinds of institutions sharing the same name.