diploma

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin diplōma (“a state letter of recommendation; an official document conferring a privilege”),^[2][3][4][5] from Ancient Greek δίπλωμα (díplōma, “a folded paper; a letter of recommendation or licence”),^[2][3][6][7] formed from διπλόω (diplóō, “to double, fold over”), from διπλόος (diplóos, “double”),^[2][8][9] the source of diplo-.^[3][9] Barnhart compares Latin duplus (“double”), a cousin of double,^[10][7] and the American Heritage Dictionary traces the first element to the Indo-European root for "two".^[4] Johnson (1755) explained the name by the folded wax tablets on which such letters were once written.^[11] The OED compares diplôme (1728).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A state paper, an official document or charter: 1645, in James Howell's Epistolæ Ho-elianæ,^[2] the 1640s in Etymonline and about 1645 in Barnhart;^[3][6] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1622.^[12] In Latin the word was used for a letter of recommendation given to people travelling to the provinces.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Ayto notes that official letters were commonly folded, so the Greek word for a folded paper came to mean a document issued by a government.^[7] From a1658 it meant a document granting an honour, privilege or licence,^[2] and especially one given by a university or college to record a degree, a sense Barnhart dates to 1682.^[6][3] Johnson (1755) defined it as a writing conferring some privilege.^[11] From 1845 historians used diploma of an original document studied as evidence,^[2] and the derived Latin adjective diplōmaticus, relating to official documents, led through French to diplomatic and diplomacy.^[7][13] Etymonline quotes Fowler that the plural is diplomas in the ordinary sense, while diplomata lingers for state papers.^[3] The verb, to award a diploma, is recorded from 1843, in Carlyle.^[2]

Timeline

• 1622 – first known use, a state document.^[12]
• 1645 – a state paper, a charter.^[2]
• a1658 – a document granting an honour or licence.^[2]
• 1682 – an academic diploma.^[6]
• 1843 – verb, to award a diploma.^[2]
• 1845 – an original document as a historical source.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A certificate given by a school, college or university showing that someone has completed a course of study or passed examinations; also, the qualification itself: She has a diploma in landscape design.
2. An official document conferring an honour or privilege.
3. (historical) A state paper or charter.

Word family

• prediploma
• diploma mill

Related words

• diplomacy
• diplomat
• diplomate
• diplomatic
• double
• diplo-

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
7. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
11. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
13. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press