A、The university as a whole. B、An association of teachers and scholars. C、A society of legal professionals. D、A business corpora

The word "university" comes from the Latin word "universitas", meaning "the whole". Later, in Latin legal language, "universitas" meant a society or corporation. In the Middle Ages, the word meant "an association of teachers and scholars". The origins of universities can be traced back to the 12th to 14th centuries. In the early 12th century, long before universities were organized in the modem sense, students gathered together for higher studies at certain centers of learning. The earliest centers in the Europe were at Bolonia in Italy, founded in 1088. Other early centers were set up in France, the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany from 1150 to 1386. The first universities in Britain were Oxford and Cambridge. They were established in 1185 and 1209 respectively. The famous London University was founded in 1836. This was followed by the foundation of several universities such as Manchester and Birmingham, which developed from provincial colleges. It was in the 1960’s that the largest expansion of higher education took place in Britain. This expansion took 3 basic forms: existing universities were enlarged, new universities were developed from existing colleges and completely new universities were set up. In Britain, finance for universities comes from three sources: the first, and the largest source, is grants from the government, the second source is fees paid by students and the third one is private donations. All the British universities except cane receive some government funding. The exception is Buckingham, which is Britain’s only independent university.