Oxbridge

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɒks.bɹɪd͡ʒ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɑks.bɹɪd͡ʒ/

Etymology 1

Blend of Oxford +‎ Cambridge.

Proper noun

Oxbridge

1. (UK, education) The University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge collectively.

   Synonym: (rare) Camford

   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter III, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume II, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:

     On the previous night he had taken the manuscript out of a long neglected chest, containing old shooting jackets, old Oxbridge scribbling books, his old surplice, and battered cap and gown, and other memorials of youth, school, and home.

   • 1912, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, Marriage, London: Macmillan and Co., Limited […], →OCLC, book the first (Marjorie Marries), page 152:

     "Of course she is clever," said Mrs. Pope. "Or we shouldn't have sent her to Oxbridge. There she's doing quite well—quite well. Everyone says so. I don't know, of course, if Mr. Magnet will let her finish there."

   • 2023 March 26, Matthew Weaver, “BBC rejects charge of elitist Oxbridge bias in University Challenge”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     In another, he says: “Why has the BBC allowed the format of this programme to treat all other universities in the UK apart from Oxbridge as second class?”

Coordinate terms

universities

• HYP
• HYPS
• HYPSM
• HYPSMC
• red brick universities

 

Derived terms

• Doxbridge
• Loxbridge
• Oxbridger
• Oxbridgey
• Oxbridgian

 

Adjective

Oxbridge (not generally comparable, comparative more Oxbridge, superlative most Oxbridge)

(UK, informal, usually predicative)

1. (not comparable) Of or related to Oxbridge.

   The applicants are mostly Oxbridge, so you'd better watch out.

2. (comparable) Evoking the idea of Oxbridge.

   We ate a formal dinner at high table after the service. It all felt very Oxbridge.

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Proper noun

Oxbridge

1. A hamlet in Netherbury parish, west Dorset, England (OS grid ref SY4797).
2. A suburb of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England (OS grid ref NZ4318).