Etymologically
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doctoral

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:41. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈdɒktəɹəl/, /ˈdɒktɹəl/[1]
  • US: /ˈdɑktəɹəl/, /ˈdɑktɹəl/[1]

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The early reference to teachers and learned people in general is obsolete; the word now relates to the doctorate and those who hold it.[2][4] Johnson (1755) already defined it as relating to the degree of a doctor.[5] From 1810 it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

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