Dictionary

varsity en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈvɑɹ.sɪ.ti/ (US)
• /ˈvɑː.sɪ.ti/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Canada) audio
• [ˈvɑɹsɪɾi] (US)

Etymology

First attested in the mid-17th century. Clipping of univarsity, reflecting an archaic pronunciation of university.

Meanings

1. (attributive, countable, often, uncountable) University.
   • […] and then to lyrically proclaim that, not only was it a way they had in the Varsity to drive dull care away, but that the same practice was also pursued in the army and navy for the attainment of a similar end. 1853, Cuthbert Bede [pseudonym; Edward Bradley], “Mr. Verdant Green’s Morning Reflections are not so pleasant as his Evening Diversions”, in The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green, an Oxford Freshman, London: Nathaniel Cooke, […], →OCLC, page 71:
2. (US, countable, uncountable) The principal sports team representing an institution (usually a high school, college, or university.)
   • A small Pennsylvania university has only one varsity program: e-sports. Is this the future of college athletics? 2019 November 13, Luke Winkie, “Why Colleges Are Betting Big on Video Games”, in The Atlantic:
   • There were sixteen of them in all, for the most part upper classmen who had failed to make the varsity the year before, with a sprinkling of sophomores and two freshmen. 1903, Ralph Henry Barbour, C. M. Relyea, Weatherby's Inning: A Story of College Life and Baseball, New York: D. Appleton and Company:

Forms

Deriveds

nonvarsity · junior varsity · intervarsity · varsity jacket · varsity letter

Translations (7)

nl universiteitsploeg (sports team representing an institution) · es varsity (vársiti) (sports team representing an institution) · es varsidad (sports team representing an institution) · cs univerzitní tým (sports team representing an institution) · de Universitätsmannschaft (sports team representing an institution) · cs školní tým (sports team representing an institution) · de Unimannschaft (sports team representing an institution)