coed

IPA/ˌkəʊˈed/
KK[kˈoˌɛd]IPA/ˌkəʊˈed/

coed — noun

1. a young woman who attends a school or college that teaches students of all gende

1.nounB2
Definition

a young woman who attends a school or college that teaches students of all genders together in the same classes, rather than at a single-gender institution

Example

Mei was one of the first coeds to enroll in the engineering program at State University.

coed + enroll in + [program] at [institution]

The old photograph showed a group of coeds laughing together outside the college library.

Common collocations
  • first coed
  • young coed
  • accept coeds
  • coed + verb (study, enroll, graduate)
Synonyms
  • female student

    neutral, modern term; preferred in current academic writing

  • undergraduate

    broader — refers to any bachelor's-degree student regardless of gender

Grammar Patterns

a + coed

coed + verb

Usage Note

Commonly used in North American English. The term was more frequent in the mid-20th century and may sound slightly dated to modern speakers. 'Coed' as a noun today is often replaced by 'female student' or 'woman student' in formal writing.

Common Mistakes

She is a coed at an all-girls academy.
She is a coed at a coeducational school.
A 'coed' must be at a mixed-gender institution, not a single-sex one.

coed — adjective

Word family

  • coeducation
    nounB2
  • coeducational
    adjectiveB2
  • coeducationally
    adverbC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

'Coed' (short for coeducational) is slightly informal and commonly used in North American conversational English. 'Coeducational' is the full, more formal term that appears in official policies, school catalogues, and academic writing. 'Mixed' (chiefly British) describes a school whose student body includes both genders — you might hear 'a mixed comprehensive' in the UK. 'Integrated' is broader and more historically loaded; it can refer to racial desegregation, though it does overlap with coeducational meaning in contexts like 'an integrated school system.' For contrast, 'single-sex' (or 'all-boys' / 'all-girls') names the opposite arrangement. Example: 'The university went coed in 1972' (spoken, casual) vs 'The board adopted a coeducational admissions policy' (written, official).

coeducationalmixed ↗integrated ↗single-sex ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • go coed
  • become coed
  • turn coed

Etymology

Latin (prefix co-, 'together')English

'Coed' first appeared in the late 19th century as a noun meaning a female student at a coeducational institution. It is a shortening of 'coeducational,' which combines the prefix 'co-' (meaning 'together,' from Latin) with 'educational.' By the mid-20th century, the word was also used as an adjective describing schools that admitted both genders. Today, the noun use sounds somewhat dated in the United States, while the adjective remains common in informal speech.