A*cad"e*my (&?;), n.;
pl. Academies (&?;). [F.
académie, L. academia. Cf. Academe.]
1. A garden or grove near Athens (so named from the hero Academus), where Plato and his followers held their philosophical conferences; hence, the school of philosophy of which Plato was head.
2. An institution for the study
of higher learning; a college or
a university. Popularly, a school, or seminary of learning, holding a rank between a college and a
common school.
3. A place of training; a school. "Academies of
fanaticism." Hume.
4. A society of learned men united for the advancement of the arts and
sciences, and literature,
or some particular art or science; as, the French Academy; the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; academies of literature and philology.
5. A school or place of training in which some special art is taught; as,
the military academy at West Point; a
riding academy; the Academy of Music.
Academy figure (Paint.), a drawing usually half life-size, in
crayon or pencil, after a nude model.
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