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[Fr. université, from Lat. universitatem, acc us. of univ ers it as the whole of anything, the universe; later, an a ociation, corporation, company, .; from uni versus universal (q. v.); Sp. universidad ; Ital. università .] *1. The whole universe; the world. "Oure tunge is fier, the unyuersitee of wickidne e." Wycliffe: James iii. 56. *2. A corporation, a guild, an a ociation. 3. Now, specifically, an establishment or corporation for the purpose of instruction in all or some of the most important sciences and literature, and bench; go, gem; thin, this; sin, aş; expect, Xenophon, exist. ph = f. having power to confer certain honorary dignitios, called degrees, in several faculties, as arts, science, medicine, law, theology, . When the term came first to be applied to seminaries of learning, it was used to signify either the whole body of learners and teachers, or the whole body of learners, with corporate rights, and under by-laws of their own, divided either by faculty or by country (whence the division into nations in the Scotch and some of the European continental universities), or both together, the particular meaning being determined by the words with which it was connected. Such phrases as Univ ers it as magistrorum et auditorum (or scholarium ), meaning the whole body of teachers and scholars, are met with at the very begin ning of the thirteenth century. As applied to Oxford, such an expre ion is found in a document belonging to the year 1301. In the following century the Latin term univ ers it as acquired a technical sense, and came to be used by itself much in the same sense as we now use the English word Univer sity. In most cases the corporations constituting universities include a body of teachers or profe . ors for giving instruction to students; but this is not e ential to a university, the University of London being simply an examining body. A common idea of a university (founded probably on the word itself, and also on the fact that the best-known universities consist of several colleges) is that a university is an aggregate or union of several col leges, that is, a great corporation embodying in one several smaller and subordinate collegiate bodies; but such is not nece arily the case, as some universities consist of but one college. The three oldest universities are those of Bologna, Paris, and Oxford, the first-named having already acquired great celebrity as a school of law in the early part of the twelfth century. The practice of granting degrees originated at Paris in the second half of the same century. The earliest divisions of students and teachers was into nations, at Paris there being four and at Bologna seventeen or eighteen nations. The division into faculties did not arise till the thirteenth century. Among American universities and colleges, of which there are about 400, the following are the most important: Harvard, Cambridge, Ma ., founded 1638; William and Mary, Williams burg, Va., 1693; Yale, New Haven, Conn., 1700; Princeton, Princeton, N. J., 1746; Columbia, New York city, N. Y., 1754; University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1785; Brown University, Providence, R. I., 1764; Dart mouth, Hanover, N. Η., 1769; Rutgers, New Brunswick, N. J., 1770; Wesley an, Middle town, Conn., 1830; Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Md., 1876; Amherst, Amherst, Ma ., 1821; Williams, Williams town, Ma ., 1793; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1841; Dick in son, Car lisle, Pa., 1783; Washington and Lee, Lexington, Va., 1749; University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 1825; Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y., 1868; Union, Schenectady, N. Y., 1795; Bowdoin, Brunswick, Mo., 1798; Trinity, Hartford, Conn., 1823; University of California, Oakland, 1855; University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill., 1891; Leland Stanford, Jr., California, 1891; Vanderbilt, Nashville, Tenn., 1875. University extension, s. The name given to a scheme inaugurated in England by which many of the advantages of university teaching are brought within the reach of the inhabitants of the other than university towns. Called also Local Lectures Scheme. 1. The Cambridge scheme: In 1872 the University of Cambridge appointed a syndicate to organize lectures by university men, and conduct cla es in suitable places. The lectures are of a similar character to those given at Cambridge, and in addition to being largely attended, have led, in the case of Nottingham, and Sheffield, to the establishment of permanent institutions for higher education. 2. The London scheme : This dates from 1878, when some London residents formed the "London Society for the Extension of University Teaching," and secured the cooperation of the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford and London, each agreeing to nominate three distinguished persons as a "joint board," and this joint board of nine undertaking to select lecturers, examiners, ., and to advise generally. Over thirty local centers have been constituted in connection with this chief body. The lectures are in courses of ten or twelve, are always accompanied with cla teaching, and conclude with an examination (free) by some independent examiner. 3. Durham scheme: In 1879 lectures were organized in connection with this university on a similar plan to that adopted in the Cambridge seheme: but in 1883 the whole management was transferred to the Cambridge Syndicate. 4. Oxford scheme : In 1885 the scheme which had been started some years earlier, but had been temporarily abandoned, was revived. The courses have hitherto been mostly short courses averaging six lectures each. 5. Victoria University : A few short courses are given at a few towns in Lancashire. 6. The Scottish scheme : The Scottish universities are cooperating to introduce a scheme of lectures similar to the Cambridge scheme into Scotland. It has already been started at a few towns. 7. American Universities: In several American university towns the Extension scheme has been adopted succe fully. *u-ni-ver-sit-ý-le , adj . [English university; -le .] Having no university; destitute of a university. tū-ni-ver-so-log-ic-al, a. [English universol og(y); -ical.] Of or pertaining to the science of univ ers ology. tū-ni-ver-sol-o-gist, s. [Eng. uni verso log(y); -ist.] One who makes a special study of universol ogy.