noun, plural cam·pus·es.
- the grounds, often including the buildings, of a college, university, or school.
- a college or university: The large influx of older students radically changed many campuses throughout the country.
- a division of a university that has its own grounds, buildings, and faculty but is administratively joined to the rest of the university.
- the world of higher education: Foundation grants have had a marked effect on the character of the American campus.
- a large, usually suburban, landscaped business or industrial site.
noun plural -puses
- the grounds and buildings of a university
- mainly US the outside area of a college, university, etc
“college grounds,” 1774, from Latin campus “a field,” probably properly “an expanse surrounded” (by woods, higher ground, etc.), from PIE *kampos “a corner, cove,” from root *kamp- “to bend” (cf. Lithuanian kampus “corner,” Polish kępa “cluster of trees or brush”). First used in college sense at Princeton.