/euh kad"euh mee/ , n. , pl. academies .
1. a secondary or high school, esp. a private one.
2. a school or college for special instruction or training in a subject: a military academy.
3. an association or institution for the advancement of art, literature, or science: the National Academy of Arts and Letters.
4. a group of authorities and leaders in a field of scholarship, art, etc., who are often permitted to dictate standards, prescribe methods, and criticize new ideas.
5. the Academy ,
a. the Platonic school of philosophy or its adherents.
b. academe (def. 3).
c. See French Academy .
d. See Royal Academy .
[ 1470-80; academia akadémeia, equiv. to Akádem ( os ) ACADEMUS + -eia adj. suffix ]