\A*cad"e*my\, n.; pl. {Academies}. [F. acad['e]mie, 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.