doctoral

Etymology

It is formed from English doctor + -al,^[2][3][4] probably on the model of Medieval Latin doctoralis, which is frequent in British sources from the 13th century.^[2] Johnson derived it from the Latin word alone.^[5] The OED compares Middle French doctoral (late 14th century), Catalan doctoral, Spanish doctoral, Portuguese doutoral and Italian dottorale.^[2] The noun doctor came through Old French doctour from Latin doctor (“teacher”), an agent noun from doceō (“to teach”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Relating to or befitting a teacher or a person of great learning, or someone holding the degree of doctor: 1549, in Thomas Chaloner's translation of Erasmus's Praise of Folie.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to the 1560s,^[3] and the Shorter Oxford to the late 16th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The early reference to teachers and learned people in general is obsolete; the word now relates to the doctorate and those who hold it.^[2][4] Johnson (1755) already defined it as relating to the degree of a doctor.^[5] From 1810 it was used of research done to obtain a doctorate, and of the people doing it.^[2] The sense "holding the degree of doctor" (1590) is now rare, and "like a doctor, especially a medical one" (1883, in R. L. Stevenson) is rare too.^[2]

Timeline

• 1549 – relating to a learned person, a teacher or a doctor.^[2]
• 1560s – relating to the degree of a doctor.^[3]
• 1590 – holding the degree of doctor (now rare).^[2]
• 1810 – of research done for a doctorate.^[2]
• 1883 – like a doctor, especially a medical doctor (rare).^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to a doctorate or to someone who holds one: a doctoral gown.^[6][2][4]
2. Of research or study, done in order to obtain a doctorate; of a person, working towards one: She is writing her doctoral thesis on Gothic poetry.^[2][6]
3. Typical of a doctor.^[6][2]

Word family

• predoctoral
• doctorally

Related words

• doctor
• doctorate
• doctrine
• docile
• document

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 m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ 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.
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster