# faculty

Pronunciation: say "FAK-uhl-tee" /ˈfæk.əl.ti/

## Noun

1. The academic staff at a school, college, university, or nonprofit research institute, as distinct from the students or support staff. *(Canada, Philippines, US)*
   - Simple: The teachers and professors at a school or college, not the students or office workers.
   - _The faculty voted to revise the undergraduate curriculum._
   - _New faculty are expected to publish research alongside their teaching duties._
2. An inherent mental or physical ability, power, or skill.
   - Simple: A natural ability to do something, like seeing, hearing, or thinking clearly.
   - _A faculty for quick mental calculation made her a natural at chess._
   - _He retained full command of his mental faculties well into his nineties._
3. A division of a university responsible for a broad field of study, grouping related departments.
   - Simple: A part of a university that teaches one main subject area, like law or science.
   - _The university's faculty of engineering houses six departments._
   - _Budget cuts forced two faculties to merge last year._
4. An authority, power, or privilege granted to someone by a higher authority.
   - Simple: A special right or power that someone in charge gives to another person.
   - _The court conferred upon the trustees the faculty to sell the land._
   - _The agent acted only under faculties granted by the crown._
5. The members of a particular profession considered collectively.
   - Simple: All the people who work in a certain profession, seen as one group.
   - _The nation's medical faculty issued guidance during the outbreak._
   - _He addressed the assembled faculty of physicians at the conference._
6. Official permission, granted by church authority, to make alterations to a church building.
   - Simple: Official permission that lets someone change or repair a church building.
   - _The parish applied for a faculty to install the war memorial._
   - _No faculty had been granted for the earlier alterations._

## Origin

It comes from Middle English 'faculte' (power, property), from Old French 'faculte', from Latin 'facultas' (capability, ability, skill, plenty, property; in Medieval Latin also a body of teachers). This was another form of 'facilitas' (easiness), from 'facilis' (easy). It is a doublet of 'facility'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/faculty (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).