Etymologically
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doctorate

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 21:01. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /ˈdɒk.tə.ɹɪt/, /ˈdɑk.tɚ.ət/[1]
  • UK: /ˈdɒk.tə.ɹeɪt/[1]
  • US: /ˈdɑk.tɚ.eɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin doctōrātus (“the degree of doctor”),[2][3][4][5][6] the past participle, used as a noun, of doctōrō (“to make a doctor; to become a doctor”).[3][4][2] The Medieval Latin verb is formed from Latin doctor (“teacher”),[2][3] an agent noun from doceō (“to teach”).[7][5] Etymonline and the OED analyse it as formed with the suffix -ate.[7][2] The OED notes that the Latin noun is frequent in British sources from the early 14th century, and compares French doctorat (16th century), Italian dottorato (mid 14th century), Spanish doctorado and German Doktorat.[2] The Shorter Oxford takes the noun as partly formed from the verb.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The highest degree that a university faculty awards: about 1577, in a pamphlet by one F. T.[2][9] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1590,[3] Etymonline to the 1670s,[7] and Dictionary.com to 1670–80.[6]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed close to that of the Medieval Latin word, though the OED notes that a doctorate is now usually a postgraduate degree above the master's level.[2] The Shorter Oxford adds that it may now be awarded by bodies other than a university faculty.[8] In 1651 the word was also used for the holder of the degree, translating Italian dottorati, a use that stayed rare.[2][8] A verb doctorate, to confer a doctor's degree on someone, is recorded from 1591, in Robert Greene;[2][9] the Shorter Oxford calls it now rare,[8] and the OED records an American intransitive use, to receive a doctorate, from 1948.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1577 – the highest university degree.[2][9]
  • 1590 – first known use according to Merriam-Webster.[3]
  • 1591 – verb, to award a doctor's degree to someone.[2][9]
  • 1651 – a holder of a doctorate (rare).[2][8]
  • 1670s – "the degree of a doctor", in Etymonline's dating.[7]
  • 1948 – verb, to receive a doctoral degree.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The highest academic degree that a university awards, now usually a postgraduate degree; a doctor's degree: She earned her doctorate in chemistry at thirty.[10][3][2]
  2. (rare) A person who holds such a degree.[2][8]

Verb

  1. (rare) To award a doctor's degree to someone.[2][8]

Word family

  • predoctorate

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins