campus.
1. Grounds of a college or university, or a separate, discrete part of such an institution.

2. Large expanse of parkland containing a series of buildings used for academic purposes.

3. Arrangement of such buildings around a large open grassed area, as at Downing College, Cambridge (from 1806), by Wilkins, which replaced the plan featuring the smaller medieval court or quad for collegiate buildings. One of the most celebrated campuses is Jefferson's University of Virginia at Charlottesville (1817–26), the precedent for many others in the USA.

Bibliography

Dober (1992);
P. Turner (1987)

cam·pus / ˈkampəs/ • n. (pl. -pus·es) the grounds and buildings of a university or college: for the first year I had a room on campus. ∎  the grounds of a school, hospital, or other institution.

campus (orig. U.S.) college or university grounds. XVIII (first at Princeton, New Jersey). — L. campus field.