multiversityn.
/ˌmʌltɪˈvəːsᵻti/, U.S. /ˌməltiˈvərsədi/; see also multi- comb. form. Chiefly U.S.
A very large university comprising many different departments and activities, esp. one having several campuses.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > place of education > college or university > [noun] > university > types of
state college1806
state university1811
Oxbridge1849
Camford1850
state1899
multiversity1926
Ivy League1939
red brick1943
televersity1950
televarsity1961
1926 Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) 3 Apr. 10/4 Some measures must be taken..to prevent the university from becoming a multiversity.
1957 A. Bestor in College & Univ. 32 Winter 175 Can the university succeed in preserving a common ground of intellectual understanding among educated men and women, thus remaining a university instead of degenerating into a multiversity?
1963 C. Kerr Uses of Univ. i. 42 The multiversity is in the main stream of events. To the teacher and the researcher have been added the consultant and the administrator. Teaching is less central than it once was for most faculty members; research has become more important.
1971 Wall St. Jrnl. 12 Jan. 1/1 They don't like the way it has grown from a sleepy teachers' college of 3,000 students in 1950 to its present status as a giant, cosmopolitan ‘multiversity’.
1996 Guardian 24 Oct. (OnLine section) 9/1 As Harvard and Yale built their professional schools, Princeton held back, torn between the collegiate idea and the nascent multiversity.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1926