Degree
De`gree´
| n. | 1. | A step, stair, or staircase. |
| 2. | One of a series of progressive steps upward or downward, in quality, rank, acquirement, and the like; a stage in progression; grade; gradation; as, degrees of vice and virtue; to advance by slow degrees; degree of comparison. |
| 3. | The point or step of progression to which a person has arrived; rank or station in life; position. |
| 4. | Measure of advancement; quality; extent; as, tastes differ in kind as well as in degree. |
| 5. | Grade or rank to which scholars are admitted by a college or university, in recognition of their attainments; also, (informal) the diploma provided by an educational institution attesting to the achievement of that rank; as, the degree of bachelor of arts, master, doctor, etc.; to hang one's degrees on the office wall. |
| 6. | (Genealogy) A certain distance or remove in the line of descent, determining the proximity of blood; one remove in the chain of relationship; as, a relation in the third or fourth degree. |
| 7. | (Arith.) Three figures taken together in numeration; thus, 140 is one degree, 222,140 two degrees. |
| 8. | (Algebra) State as indicated by sum of exponents; more particularly, the degree of a term is indicated by the sum of the exponents of its literal factors; thus, a2b3c is a term of the sixth degree. The degree of a power, or radical, is denoted by its index, that of an equation by the greatest sum of the exponents of the unknown quantities in any term; thus, ax4 + bx2 = c, and mx2y2 + nyx = p, are both equations of the fourth degree. |
| 9. | (Trig.) A 360th part of the circumference of a circle, which part is taken as the principal unit of measure for arcs and angles. The degree is divided into 60 minutes and the minute into 60 seconds. |
| 10. | (Mus.) A division, space, or interval, marked on a mathematical or other instrument, as on a thermometer. |
DEGREE, descents. This word is derived from the French degre, which is
itself taken from the Latin gradus, and signifies literally, a step in a
stairway, or the round of a ladder.
2. Figuratively applied, and as it is understood in law, it is the
distance between those who are allied by blood; it means the relations
descending from a common ancestor, from generation to generation, as by so
many steps. Hence, according to some Lexicographers, we obtain the word,
pedigree (q.v.) Par degrez, by degree, the descent being reckoned par
degrez. Minshew. Each generation lengthens the line of descent one degree,
for the degrees are only the generations marked in a line by small circles
or squares, in which the names of the persons forming it are written. Vide
Consanguinity;, Line; and also Ayliffe's Parergon, 209; Toull. Dr. Civ.
Frau. liv. 3, t. 1, c. 3, n. 158; Aso & Man. Inst. B. 2, t. 4, c. 3, Sec. 1.
DEGREE, measures. In angular measures, a degree is equal to sixty minutes,
or the thirtieth part of a sine. Vide Measure.
DEGREE, persons. By. degree, is understood the state or condition of a
person. The ancient English statute of additions, for example, requires that
in process, for the better description of a defendant, his state, degree, or
mystery, shall be mentioned.
AA,
AB,
AM,
Associate of Arts,
BS,
Bachelor of Arts,
Bachelor of Divinity,
Bachelor of Science,
DD,
DDS,
Doctor of Divinity,
Doctor of Laws,
Doctor of Letters,
Doctor of Medicine,
Doctor of Music,
Doctor of Philosophy,
Doctor of Science,
Doctor of Theology,
JD,
LLD,
LittD,
MA,
MBA,
MD,
MFA,
MLS,
MS,
Master of Arts,
Master of Divinity,
Master of Science,
PhD,
SB,
SM,
STD,
ScD,
ThD,
baccalaureate,
baccalaureus,
bachelor,
bar,
bar line,
barometer,
bit by bit,
brace,
by degrees,
canon,
cardinal points,
caste,
check,
class,
compass card,
compass rose,
condition,
consecutive intervals,
considerably,
continuity,
criterion,
decidedly,
degrees,
diapason,
diatessaron,
diatonic interval,
diatonic semitone,
dimension,
doctor,
doctorate,
east,
eastward,
enharmonic diesis,
enharmonic interval,
estate,
exceedingly,
extent,
fifth,
fourth,
gauge,
gradation,
gradually,
graduated scale,
half points,
half step,
halftone,
hierarchy,
highly,
inch by inch,
inchmeal,
interval,
ledger line,
lengths,
less semitone,
level,
limit,
line,
little by little,
lubber line,
magnitude,
master,
melodic interval,
model,
norm,
north,
northeast,
northward,
northwest,
notch,
note,
occident,
octave,
order,
orient,
parallel octaves,
parameter,
pattern,
place,
point,
position,
proportion,
quantity,
quarter points,
quite,
rate,
rather,
ratio,
reading,
readout,
rhumb,
rule,
rung,
scale,
second,
semitone,
sequence,
serial order,
seventh,
situation,
sixth,
size,
slowly,
somewhat,
south,
southeast,
southward,
southwest,
space,
staff,
stage,
standard,
standing,
station,
status,
stave,
step by step,
subordination,
substantially,
sunrise,
sunset,
test,
third,
to a degree,
tone,
touchstone,
type,
unison interval,
value,
west,
westward,
whole step,
yardstick
degree - a position on a scale of intensity or amount or quality; "a moderate degree of intelligence"; "a high level of care is required"; "it is all a matter of degree"
degree - an award conferred by a college or university signifying that the recipient has satisfactorily completed a course of study; "he earned his degree at Princeton summa cum laude"