From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcolleaguecol‧league /ˈkɒliːɡ $ ˈkɑː-/ ●●● S2 W2 AWL noun [countable] WORKERsomeone you work with – used especially by professional people SYN co-worker a colleague of mine from the bank She discussed the idea with some of her colleagues.THESAURUScolleague someone who you work with in a company or organization, for example someone working in the same office, or someone teaching in the same schoolFriends and former colleagues described him as a kind and caring man.She discovered that her male colleagues were earning more than she was.workmate British English someone who you work with. Workmate is more informal than colleagueHe went out for a drink with his workmates.coworker American English someone who you work withI was sad to say goodbye to all of my coworkers.associate someone who you work with, especially another businessman or businesswomanThey are close friends and business associates.staff all the people who work for an organizationThe company employs a total of 520 staff.a staff meeting
Examples from the Corpus
colleague• Can you imagine him a colleague of yours?• I'd like you to meet a colleague of mine, Jean-Michel Blanc from our Paris office.• Jenny is a conscientious manager, very popular with her colleagues.• In 1985 the Uyghur archaeologist Dolkun Kamberi and his colleagues uncovered five tombs, only two of which had not been looted.• Along with his colleagues, more escapes were planned and other schemes hatched.• my colleagues at the university• He was scathing in his criticism of colleagues whose work did not match these standards.• Long was a choleric, short-tempered man who was a constant trial to colleagues in opposition or in power.From Longman Business Dictionarycolleaguecol‧league /ˈkɒliːgˈkɑː-/ noun [countable] someone you work with, used especially by professional people or managersa colleague of mine at the bankOrigin colleague (1500-1600) French collègue, from Latin collega, from com- ( → COM-) + legare “to choose for a particular job” 