Explain the word "Colleague"

[Nageen]

I want to get the explanation of a word.
That is "Colleague"
Confusion is that is this word also used for someone's subordinates.
e.g If one is a professor somewhere , will the lecturers and clerical staff
be called one's colleagues? Or just the people on the same rank
will be his colleagues.

[Mxreader]

This just means "fellow workers", or "associates" without making reference to rank.