Adjacent Words

Degree definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DEGREE, n.
1. A step; a distinct portion of space of indefinite extent; a space in progression; as, the army gained the hill by degrees; a balloon rises or descends by slow degrees; and figuratively, we advance in knowledge by slow degrees. Men are yet in the first degree of improvement. It should be their aim to attain to the furthest degree, or the highest degree. There are degrees of vice and virtue.
2. A step or portion of progression, in elevation, quality, dignity or rank; as a man of great degree.
We speak of men of high degree, or of low degree; of superior or inferior degree. It is supposed there are different degrees or orders of angels.
They purchase to themselves a good degree. 1 Timothy 3.
3. In genealogy, a certain distance or remove in the line of descent, determining the proximity of blood; as a relation in the third or fourth degree.
4. Measure; extent. The light is intense to a degree that is intolerable. We suffer an extreme degree of heat or cold.
5. In geometry, a division of a circle, including a three hundred and sixtieth part of its circumference. Hence a degree of latitude is the 360th part of the earths surface north or south of the equator, and a degree of longitude, the same part of the surface east or west of any given meridian.
6. In music, an interval of sound, marked by a line on the scale.
7. In arithmetic, a degree consists of three figures; thus, 270, 360, compose two degrees.
8. A division, space or interval, marked on a mathematical or other instrument; as on a thermometer, or barometer.
9. In colleges and universities, a mark of distinction conferred on students, as a testimony of their proficiency in arts and sciences; giving them a kind of rank, and entitling them to certain privileges. This is usually evidenced by a diploma. Degrees are conferred pro meritis on the alumni of a college; or they are honorary tokens of respect, conferred on strangers of distinguished reputation. The first degree is that of Bachelor of Arts; the second, that of Master of Arts. Honorary degrees are those of Doctor of Divinity, Doctor of Laws, etc. Physicians also receive the degree of Doctor of Medicine.
By degrees, step by step; gradually; by little and little; by moderate advances. Frequent drinking forms by degrees a confirmed habit of intemperance.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a position on a scale of intensity or amount or quality; "a moderate grade of intelligence"; "a high level of care is required"; "it is all a matter of degree" [syn: degree, grade, level]
2: a specific identifiable position in a continuum or series or especially in a process; "a remarkable degree of frankness"; "at what stage are the social sciences?" [syn: degree, level, stage, point]
3: 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" [syn: academic degree, degree]
4: a measure for arcs and angles; "there are 360 degrees in a circle" [syn: degree, arcdegree]
5: the highest power of a term or variable
6: a unit of temperature on a specified scale; "the game was played in spite of the 40-degree temperature"
7: the seriousness of something (e.g., a burn or crime); "murder in the second degree"; "a second degree burn"

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French degré, from Vulgar Latin *degradus, from Latin de- + gradus Date: 13th century 1. a step or stage in a process, course, or order of classification <advanced by degrees> 2. a. a rank or grade of official, ecclesiastical, or social position <people of low degree> b. archaic a particular standing especially as to dignity or worth c. the civil condition or status of a person 3. a step in a direct line of descent or in the line of ascent to a common ancestor 4. a. obsolete step, stair b. archaic a member of a series arranged in steps 5. a measure of damage to tissue caused by injury or disease — compare first-degree burn, second-degree burn, third-degree burn 6. a. the extent, measure, or scope of an action, condition, or relation <different in degree but not in kind> b. relative intensity <a high degree of stress> c. one of the forms or sets of forms used in the comparison of an adjective or adverb d. a legal measure of guilt or negligence <found guilty of robbery in the first degree> 7. a. a title conferred on students by a college, university, or professional school on completion of a program of study b. a grade of membership attained in a ritualistic order or society c. an academic title conferred to honor distinguished achievement or service d. the formal ceremonies observed in the conferral of such a distinction 8. a unit of measure for angles equal to an angle with its vertex at the center of a circle and its sides cutting off 1/360 of the circumference; also a unit of measure for arcs of a circle equal to the amount of arc that subtends a central angle of one degree 9. archaic a position or space on the earth or in the heavens as measured by degrees of latitude 10. a. a step, note, or tone of a musical scale b. a line or space of the musical staff 11. one of the divisions or intervals marked on a scale of a measuring instrument; specifically any of various units for measuring temperature 12. a. the sum of the exponents of the variables in the term of highest degree in a polynomial, polynomial function, or polynomial equation b. the sum of the exponents of the variable factors of a monomial c. the greatest power of the derivative of highest order in a differential equation after the equation has been rationalized and cleared of fractions with respect to the derivative • degreed adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a stage in an ascending or descending scale, series, or process. 2 a stage in intensity or amount (to a high degree; in some degree). 3 relative condition (each is good in its degree). 4 Math. a unit of measurement of angles, one-ninetieth of a right angle or the angle subtended by one-three-hundred-and-sixtieth of the circumference of a circle. Usage: Symb.: ° (as in 45°). 5 Physics a unit in a scale of temperature, hardness, etc. Usage: Abbr.: deg. (or omitted in the Kelvin scale of temperature). 6 Med. an extent of burns on a scale characterized by the destruction of the skin. 7 an academic rank conferred by a college or university after examination or after completion of a course, or conferred as an honour on a distinguished person. 8 a grade of crime or criminality (murder in the first degree). 9 a step in direct genealogical descent. 10 social or official rank. 11 Math. the highest power of unknowns or variables in an equation etc. (equation of the third degree). 12 a masonic rank. 13 a thing placed like a step in a series; a tier or row. 14 Mus. the classification of a note by its position in the scale. Phrases and idioms: by degrees a little at a time; gradually. degree of freedom 1 Physics the independent direction in which motion can occur. 2 Chem. the number of independent factors required to specify a system at equilibrium. 3 Statistics the number of independent values or quantities which can be assigned to a statistical distribution. degrees of comparison see COMPARISON. forbidden (or prohibited) degrees a number of degrees of descent too few to allow of marriage between two related persons. to a degree colloq. considerably. Derivatives: degreeless adj. Etymology: ME f. OF degré f. Rmc (as DE-, L gradus step)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Degree De*gree", n. [F. degr['e], OF. degret, fr. LL. degradare. See Degrade.] 1. A step, stair, or staircase. [Obs.] By ladders, or else by degree. --Rom. of R. 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. ``A dame of high degree.'' --Dryden. ``A knight is your degree.'' --Shak. ``Lord or lady of high degree.'' --Lowell. 4. Measure of advancement; quality; extent; as, tastes differ in kind as well as in degree. The degree of excellence which proclaims genius, is different in different times and different places. --Sir. J. Reynolds. 5. Grade or rank to which scholars are admitted by a college or university, in recognition of their attainments; as, the degree of bachelor of arts, master, doctor, etc. Note: In the United States diplomas are usually given as the evidence of a degree conferred. In the humanities the first degree is that of bachelor of arts (B. A. or A. B.); the second that of master of arts (M. A. or A. M.). The degree of bachelor (of arts, science, divinity, law, etc.) is conferred upon those who complete a prescribed course of undergraduate study. The first degree in medicine is that of doctor of medicine (M. D.). The degrees of master and doctor are sometimes conferred, in course, upon those who have completed certain prescribed postgraduate studies, as doctor of philosophy (Ph. D.); but more frequently the degree of doctor is conferred as a complimentary recognition of eminent services in science or letters, or for public services or distinction (as doctor of laws (LL. D.) or doctor of divinity (D. D.), when they are called honorary degrees.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(degrees) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. You use degree to indicate the extent to which something happens or is the case, or the amount which something is felt. These man-made barriers will ensure a very high degree of protection... Politicians have used television with varying degrees of success. N-COUNT: with supp, usu N of n • If something has a degree of a particular quality, it has a small but significant amount of that quality. Their wages do, however, allow them a degree of independence... PHRASE: PHR n 2. A degree is a unit of measurement that is used to measure temperatures. It is often written as °, for example 23°. It's over 80 degrees outside... N-COUNT: usu num N 3. A degree is a unit of measurement that is used to measure angles, and also longitude and latitude. It is often written as °, for example 23°. It was pointing outward at an angle of 45 degrees. N-COUNT: usu num N 4. A degree at a university or college is a course of study that you take there, or the qualification that you get when you have passed the course. He took a master's degree in economics at Yale. ...the first year of a degree course. N-COUNT: usu with supp 5. see also first-degree, second-degree, third-degree 6. If something happens by degrees, it happens slowly and gradually. The crowd in Robinson's Coffee-House was thinning, but only by degrees. = gradually PHRASE 7. You use expressions such as to some degree, to a large degree, or to a certain degree in order to indicate that something is partly true, but not entirely true. These statements are, to some degree, all correct. PHRASE: PHR with cl [vagueness] 8. You use expressions such as to what degree and to the degree that when you are discussing how true a statement is, or in what ways it is true. To what degree would you say you had control over things that went on?... = to what extent, to the extent that PHRASE [vagueness]

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

de-gre' (ma`alah, "a going up" or "ascent," hence, a staircase or flight of steps; "rank": tapeinos, "low"): By derivation it should mean "a step down" (Latin, de, down, gradus, step). It is used, however, of any step, up or down; then of grade or rank, whether high or low.

(1) In its literal sense of step (as of a stair), it is used in the plural to translate Hebrew ma`aloth ("steps"), in the parallel passages 2Ki 20:9-11 the King James Version (5 t); Isa 38:8 the King James Version (3 t), where we read of the "degrees" (the Revised Version (British and American) "steps") on the "dial of Ahaz" (Hebrew "steps of Ahaz"). See DIAL OF AHAZ. It seems to mean steps or progressive movements of the body toward a certain place in the phrase "A So of Degrees" (the Revised Version (British and American) "Ascents"), which forms the title of each of the Psalms 120-134, probably because they were sung on the way up to the great feasts at Jerusalem. See PSALMS

(2) The secondary (but now the more usual) sense of rank, order, grade is found in the following passages:

(a) 1Ch 15:18, "their brethren of the second (degree)," literally, "of the seconds" (Hebrew mishnim; compare 2Ch 28:7, "Elkanah that was next to the king," Hebrew, "the king's second," i.e. in rank);

(b) 1Ch 17:17, "a man of high degree" (Hebrew ma`alah, "step");

(c) Ps 62:9, "men of low degree .... men of high degree," a paraphrase of Hebrew "sons of man .... sons of man," the first "man" being Hebrew 'adham ("common humanity"; compare Greek anthropos, Latin homo, Welsh dyn), and the second Hebrew 'ish (man in a superior sense; compare Greek aner, Latin vir, Welsh gwr) ;

(d) "of low degree" for Greek tapeinos in Sirach 11:1; Lu 1:52; Jas 1:9;

(e) In 1Ti 3:13 the King James Version "a good degree" (Greek bathmos kalos, the Revised Version (British and American) "a good standing") is assured to those who have "served well as deacons." Some take this to mean promotion to a higher official position in the church; but it probably means simply a position of moral weight and influence in the church gained by faithfulness in service (so Hort).

D. Miall Edwards

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Step, stage. 2. Class, rank, order, grade, quality, station, standing. 3. Measure, extent. 4. Remove (in the line of descent). 5. Division (as on a scale), interval, space. 6. Literary or collegiate distinction, grade in letters, literary title.

Moby Thesaurus

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, grade, 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, measure, 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, rank, 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, step by step, subordination, substantially, sunrise, sunset, test, third, to a degree, tone, touchstone, type, unison interval, value, west, westward, whole step, yardstick