diploma

[ dih-ploh-muh ]

noun

, plural di·plo·mas, Latin di·plo·ma·ta [dih-, ploh, -m, uh, -t, uh].

1. a document given by an educational institution conferring a degree on a person or certifying that the person has satisfactorily completed a course of study.
2. a document conferring some honor, privilege, or power.
3. a public or official document, especially one of historical interest:

   a diploma from Carolingian times.

verb (used with object)

, di·plo·maed, di·plo·ma·ing.

1. to grant or award a diploma to.

diploma

/ dɪˈpləʊmə /

noun

1. a document conferring a qualification, recording success in examinations or successful completion of a course of study
2. an official document that confers an honour or privilege

Other Words From

• predi·ploma noun
• undi·plomaed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of diploma¹

1635–45; < Latin diplōma a letter of recommendation, an official document < Greek díplōma a letter folded double, equivalent to diplō-, variant stem of diploûn to double (derivative of diplóos; diplo- ) + -ma suffix of result

Word History and Origins

Origin of diploma¹

C17: from Latin: official letter or document, literally: letter folded double, from Greek; see diplo-

Example Sentences

He had struggles over the years but was turning a corner and about to be awarded the state’s top diploma, she said.

From Washington Post

She’d gone back to school as well, with just five subjects left to finish her high school diploma.

From Time

Katie accepted her diploma through the sunroof of the minivan.

From Washington Post

I just picked up my diploma and headed to San Diego and started that first show.

From Ozy

Respondents with less than four years of college said they preferred to vote in person, 59 percent to 37 percent, and respondents with a high school diploma or less opted for in-person voting 68 percent to 29 percent.

From FiveThirtyEight

The “doctorate” Duke claims is from an anti-Semitic Ukranian “diploma mill” as described by the State Department.

From The Daily Beast

My grandmother lacks a high school diploma but is full of more wisdom, and more financial sense, than a lot of people I know.

From The Daily Beast

This is not the case, but the reality is worse: losing access to a diploma and getting kicked out of school.

From The Daily Beast

This formula excludes students who take longer than four years to earn their diploma, and GEDs and other special diplomas.

From The Daily Beast

I grew up on the Lower East Side—before it was gentrified—and I have a high school diploma.

From The Daily Beast

Nevertheless, Cui did not handle the young composer so severely as on the occasion of his Diploma Cantata.

From Project Gutenberg

Nothing distracts them from their aim; they never lose sight of the diploma that will be their bread-winner.

From Project Gutenberg

A girl bound for college became immediately an integer with which a young man who had not yet mislaid his diploma could reckon.

From Project Gutenberg

I only know Latin, and I have no diploma which would enable me to sell my knowledge at a high price.

From Project Gutenberg

As he himself expressed it, he delivered his diploma lecture through his paintings.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• credentials
• degree
• recognition
• voucher
• warrant