diploma
Pronunciation
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
- 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.
- An official document conferring an honour or privilege.
- (historical) A state paper or charter.
Word family
- prediploma
- diploma mill
Related words
- diplomacy
- diplomat
- diplomate
- diplomatic
- double
- diplo-
References
- ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
- ^ 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
- ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
- ^ Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press