CU Boulder Word List

The following list includes easily confused words as well as the preferred spelling and capitalization for words that are commonly used in CUBoulder writing. For words not included here, consultMerriam-Webster. Typically, the preferred, U.S. (as opposed to British Commonwealth) spelling is listed first when there is more than one correct spelling.

  • advisor |Use this spelling in all instances.
  • alum |Abbreviation for alumnus or alumna. Avoid this abbreviation in formal copy.
  • alumna |Singular for female graduate; alumnae is the plural when referring to only female graduates.
  • alumni |Plural for combination of male and female graduates or male graduates. Use "graduates" if a non-gendered term is preferred.
  • alumnus |Singular for male graduate. Also used as generic reference for male or female graduate.
  • bachelor’s, baccalaureate |Lowercase, as inbachelor's degree, but Bachelor of Arts,etc., is capitalized.
  • Big 12 Conference
  • Board of Regents |Use the full name for first reference. Subsequent references may be styled asthe regentsorthe board. Board of Regents is singular; regents takes a plural verb. No possessive apostrophe for theregents meeting. See also: regents entry.
  • Buffalo |Preferred plural is Buffaloes (rather than Buffalos). Plural possessive is Buffaloes’. Capitalized because ’s the proper name of CU’s sports teams.
  • Buff OneCard
  • campus | Possessive is campus’s, even if the next word begins with an “s,” a new rule from AP.
  • campuswide
  • cancel, canceling, canceled, cancellation
  • check-in, check in |Hyphenated as a noun, two words as a verb.
  • checkout, check out |One word as a noun, two words as a verb.
  • city of Boulder |Lowercasecity.
  • co- |Use a hyphen when forming nouns, adjectives and verbs that indicate occupation or status; do not hyphenate in other combinations: co-author, co-worker, coeducational, cocurricular, cooperate.
  • college, the
  • Coloradan |Not Coloradoan.
  • commencement |Capitalized only when referring to a specific one by year: the 2025 Commencement.
  • compose/comprise/constitute |Composemeans to create or put together. Comprise means to be made up of. Comprised ofis redundant.Constitutemeans to be the elements of and may work best when neithercomposenorcompriseseems to fit.
  • coursework
  • credit hours | Always use numerals: 3 credit hours
  • CU NightRide
  • cum laude |Translates as “with distinction.” No italics for this and other commonly used Latin terms. (If ’s in Merriam-Webster or another standard dictionary, ’s considered common enough to not require italics.)
  • data |Both a plural noun and a collective noun—i.e., it represents a unit—that can take a singular verb.
  • decision making |No hyphen when used as a noun. Hyphenate only when used as an adjective immediately before a noun.
  • department, the
  • Distinguished Professor | Capitalize to differentiate the CU Boulder honor from a merely excellent professor
  • division, the
  • doctoral/doctorate |Doctoral is an adjective; doctorate is a noun.
  • email |Capitalize the e only when the term appears at the beginning of a sentence, in a heading, or on a form where other entries (such as Address, Phone) are capitalized. Do not hyphenate as e-mail.Emailas a plural is a collective noun and does not take ans. Useemail messages.
  • emeritus, emerita, emeriti |Honorary title for retired professor:emeritusfor a male professor,emeritafor a female professor.Emeritiis plural for both male and female professors.
  • every day/everyday |The single word everyday is an adjective.
  • faculty |A collective noun referring to an institution’s entire teaching staff. It can takea singular or plural verb, depending on the context.To refer to an individual who is part of a faculty, faculty member is preferred for clarity.
  • federal |No capital except when the term refers to an architectural style or is part of a formal name: the federal government, Federal Express, the Federal Housing Administration.
  • female/woman |Female can be an adjective or a noun; woman is a noun only. For clarity, careful writers use female as an adjective only and woman as a noun only.
  • Fulbright scholar | Lowercase scholar.
  • full time |Hyphenate only when used as an adjective immediately before a noun: full-time job; Ellen works full time.
  • fundraising |One word, no hyphen, along with fundraise and fundraiser.
  • GPA |Need not be spelled out on first use; always use numerals and as many decimal places as needed: 3.0, 2.5, 3.97.
  • graduate school | Capitalize when referring to CU Boulder's Graduate School.
  • gray |Rather than grey, which is the British Commonwealth preference. (Unless, of course, Grey is part of a proper noun.)
  • homepage
  • Honors Program
  • IdentiKey
  • interdisciplinary
  • internet | No longer capitalized, per AP Style.
  • its/’s |Itsis the possessive pronoun (remember: his, hers, its);’sis the contraction of “it is.”
  • JILA |This is no longer an acronym and should be used as the name.
  • login/log in, log off|This is one word when used as a noun or adjective, and two words when used as a verb. Log in is preferred over log on.
  • magna cum laude |Translates as “with great distinction.” No italics. See also:cum laude entry.
  • major | Lowercase, as in history, mathematics, aerospace engineering, journalism. Capitalize proper nouns: French, Asian studies.
  • master's | Lowercase, as in master's degree, but Master of Science, Master of Arts, etc., are capitalized.
  • media |A plural noun.
  • midsemester
  • midterm
  • more than/over |Overgenerally refers to spatial relationships.More thanis preferred with numerals. However, AP has determined they are interchangeable.
  • multicultural
  • MyCUBoulder
  • MyCUInfo
  • Nobel Prize |BothNobelandPrizeshould be capitalized, and the area in which the prize was won should be lowercased.David Wineland won the Nobel Prize in physics in 2012. Five faculty have been named Nobel laureates at CUBoulder. She is a Nobel Prize-winning author.
  • non- |Most words beginning withnondo not use a hyphen:noncredit,nondegree, nonmajor,nonprofit,nonrefundable, nonresident. Exceptions include cases where the following word is a proper noun and when the resulting word would be unclear or confusing: e.g., non-tenure track.
  • off campus |(preposition plus noun)
  • off-campus |(adjective; hyphenated when it immediately precedes a noun)
  • on campus |(preposition plus noun)
  • on-campus |(adjective; hyphenated when it immediately precedes a noun)
  • online |(adjective, adverb)
  • onscreen |(adjective)
  • on screen |(adverb)
  • orientation
  • part time |Hyphenate only when used as an adjective immediately before a noun.
  • percent | You may use the % sign in all cases. Use numerals for percent (1%, 95%), but spell out one through nine when using “percentage points” (six percentage points, 27 percentage points).
  • post- |Most words formed with the post prefix are styled without a hyphen, unless the word begins with a capital or unless confusion would result: postdoctoral, postbaccalaureate, postgraduate, post-World War II.
  • pre- |Most words formed with the pre prefix are styled without a hyphen; do not hyphenatepreadmission, precollegiate, prelaw, premedicine, prepharmacy, preprofessional, prequalify, preregister, prerequisite.
  • premier, premiere | Premier means first in importance or rank.A premiere is a first performance.
  • Presidents Leadership Class
  • President’s Teaching Scholars
  • problem solving |No hyphen when used as a noun. Hyphenate only when used as an adjective before a noun.
  • program, the
  • re- |In general, use a hyphen in compounds beginning withreonly if the word following thereprefix begins with aneor if confusion would result: recover/re-cover. But reelect, reestablish, redo, rewrite.
  • regents |Lowercase when referring to individual members of the Board of Regents, unless used as part of a publication or personal title. See also: Board of Regents entry.
  • residence halls |Preferred term (rather than dorms).
  • Rhodes scholar |Lowercasescholar.
  • SAT |Never spell out or use periods. It no longer is an acronym. It does not refer to anything except itself.
  • school, the
  • smartphone
  • spring, summer, fall, winter
  • spring break
  • state of Colorado, the
  • statewide | See -wide
  • student-athlete,student-employee |Always hyphenate, whether used as a noun or adjective.
  • summa cum laude |Translates as “with highest distinction.” No italics. See also: cum laude entry.
  • system | As in CU system,always lowercase.
  • theater |Use this spelling except when it is spelled “Theatre” in a proper name (e.g., Mary Rippon Theatre, Department of Theatre and Dance).
  • toward |Nottowards, which is the British Commonwealth form. Same with backward and forward.
  • underway |One word in all uses.
  • university, the | Do not capitalize when it refers generically to the University of Colorado or to one of its campuses.
  • wait list, wait-list |Two words as a noun, hyphenated as a verb or adjective.
  • web |Shortened form of World Wide Web. Spell it lowercase in all instances.
  • webpage
  • website
  • -wide | Hyphenate when the base word has three or more syllables: citywide, campuswide, university-wide.
  • Wi-Fi
  • workload
  • work-study |Always hyphenate, whether used as a noun or adjective.
  • World Wide Web