baccalaureate

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin baccalaureātus,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from baccalaureus (“advanced student, bachelor”).^[6][5][3] Hoad, the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English give the source as French baccalauréat or the Medieval Latin word.^[7][8][9] Baccalaureus is an alteration of baccalārius,^[3][6][10] which meant a dependent farmer or tenant, a young clerk, and an advanced student lecturing under a master,^[6][3] made by word-play as if from Latin bacca (“berry”) and laureus (“of laurel”),^[6][10][11] from laurus (“laurel”);^[10] Barnhart, Partridge and the Oxford Dictionary of English explain it as a play on Latin bacca lauri (“laurel berry”), because laurels were awarded to scholars.^[5][12][9] The origin of the Medieval Latin word itself is uncertain: Etymonline suggests Latin baculum (“staff”), which a young student might carry, or a re-Latinization of bachelor in its academic sense.^[3][10] The ending is -ate.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The university degree of bachelor: 1625–49, in the Scottish Acts of Charles I.^[2][5] Etymonline dates it to the 1620s,^[3] Merriam-Webster Unabridged to 1649,^[6] and Dictionary.com to 1615–25.^[13]

Semantic evolution

In 1696 E. Phillips's New World of Words also used the word for a bachelor, the holder of the degree, a rare sense that Longfellow later used for the metre, perhaps thinking of laureate.^[2][8] The adjective, relating to the bachelor's degree or its ceremonies, is recorded from 1835.^[6] In American colleges a baccalaureate sermon (1864) was a farewell religious address to the graduating class, and baccalaureate alone came to mean the sermon or the service before commencement.^[3][6] From 1970, according to the Oxford Dictionary of English, it was also an examination qualifying students for higher education,^[9] as in the International Baccalaureate of the late 20th century.^[8][11]

Timeline

• 1625–49 – the university degree of bachelor.^[2][5]
• 1696 – a bachelor, the holder of the degree (rare).^[2][8]
• 1835 – adjective, relating to the bachelor's degree.^[6]
• 1864 – baccalaureate sermon, a farewell address to a graduating class.^[3]
• 1970 – an examination qualifying for higher education.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bachelor's degree from a university or college.^{[6][11][9][8]}
2. An examination or programme of study qualifying students for higher education, especially the International Baccalaureate.^[9][11][8]
3. (US) A religious service held at some schools and colleges before commencement.^[6][9]
4. (US) The farewell sermon or address given to graduating students at such a service.^[6][11][3]

Adjective

1. Relating to the bachelor's degree or to the ceremonies at which it is conferred: a baccalaureate program.^[6]

Word family

• postbaccalaureate

Related words

• bachelor
• laureate
• laurel
• baccalaurean

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
13. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House