academy

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a·cad·e·my / əˈkadəmē/ • n. (pl. -mies) 1. a place of study or training in a special field: a police academy. ∎ hist. a place of study. ∎  a secondary school, typically a private one. ∎  (the Academy) the teaching school founded by Plato.2. a society or institution of distinguished scholars, artists, or scientists, that aims to promote and maintain standards in its particular field: the National Academy of Sciences. ∎  the community of scholars; academe.ORIGIN: late Middle English (denoting the garden where Plato taught): from French académie or Latin academia, from Greek akadēmeia, from Akadēmos, the hero after whom Plato's garden was named.

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