Oxbridge

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For the English village, see Oxbridge, Dorset.

Oxbridge was originally a fictional composite of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge and the term is now used to refer them collectively, often with implications of their superior intellectual and social status.^[1]

1 Meaning
2 Origins
3 Related terms
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Meaning

The term 'Oxbridge' has arisen partly from the many characteristics that the two universities share. The University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge are the two oldest universities in England. Both were founded more than 750 years ago,^[2]^[3] and between them have produced a large number of Britain's most prominent scientists, writers, and politicians,^[4] as well as noted figures in many other fields.^[5] Moreover they both share a similar collegiate system, whereby the University is a 'cooperative' of its constituent colleges. The competition between Oxford and Cambridge also has a long history, dating back to the days when Cambridge was founded by dissident scholars from Oxford.^{[citation needed]}

The word Oxbridge may also be used as a descriptor of social class; i.e. the upper social classes who have in the past dominated the intake of these two universities.

[edit] Origins

Although both universities were founded more than seven centuries ago, the term 'Oxbridge' is relatively young. In William Thackeray's bildungsroman, Pendennis, published in 1849, the main character attends (the fictional) Boniface College, Oxbridge. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, this is the first recorded instance of the word, but it did not enter common usage until the middle of the 20th century. This is possibly because until 1832, Oxford and Cambridge were the only universities in England, and the terms "University" or "Varsity" would have sufficed to encompass both universities.

Pendennis also introduces the term Camford as another combination of the university names; "he was a Camford man and very nearly got the English Prize Poem"; although this term has never achieved the same degree of usage as Oxbridge. Virginia Woolf used the term Oxbridge critically in her essay A Room of One's Own.

Social critics in the United Kingdom, such as Carole Cadwalladr, also sometimes use "Oxbridge" or "Oxbridge Club" as shorthand for the "old boy network".^[6]

[edit] Related terms

Other portmanteau words are occasionally derived from the term "Oxbridge", such as "Doxbridge" an annual inter-collegiate sports tournament between the colleges of Durham, Oxford, and Cambridge.^[7] The term "Loxbridge" (referring to London, Oxford, and Cambridge) is sometimes used,^[8] and was also used as the name of a history conference now referred to as AMPAH.^[9] However, such terms are only used for specific groups, and none has achieved widespread use.^{[citation needed]} In the United States, the Ivy League forms an analogous group of colleges with a reputation for selectivity and academic excellence, but the relationship is more formally organized.