baccalaureate
- bachelor's degree.
- a religious service held at an educational institution, usually on the Sunday before commencement day.
- baccalaureate sermon.
Origin of baccalaureate
Related Words for baccalaureate
sort, status, strength, level, grade, point, standard, credit, magnitude, qualification, position, scope, honor, quality, class, recipient, doctor, grad, alum, alumnusExamples from the Web for baccalaureate
Historical Examples of baccalaureate
The president preached the Baccalaureate sermon from Gen. 5:24.
Dr. Beard, our secretary, preached the "baccalaureate sermon."
It is the pride of the enterprising "sports" and "sharpers," who represent the baccalaureate degree of every known vice.
The Little Lady of LagunitasRichard Henry Savage
In his baccalaureate sermon the president of Yale offered the graduates some advice which at least they should find stimulating.
The Fiction FactoryJohn Milton Edwards
Nothing has shown more clearly the intellectual barrenness of the pulpit than baccalaureate sermons lately delivered.
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 7 (of 12)Robert G. Ingersoll
baccalaureate
- the university degree of Bachelor or Arts, Bachelor of Science, etc
- an internationally recognized programme of study, comprising different subjects, offered as an alternative to a course of A levels in Britain
- US a farewell sermon delivered at the commencement ceremonies in many colleges and universities
Word Origin for baccalaureate
Word Origin and History for baccalaureate
1620s, "university degree of a bachelor," from Medieval Latin baccalaureatus, from baccalaureus "student with the first degree," altered by a play on words with bacca lauri "laurel berry" (laurels being awarded for academic success).
The Medieval Latin word perhaps ultimately is derived from Latin baculum "staff" (see bacillus), which the young student might carry, but it is more likely just a re-Latinization of bachelor (q.v.) in its academic sense. In modern U.S. usage, the word usually is short for baccalaureate-sermon (1864), a religious farewell address to the graduating class.