Ph.D.

[pee-eych-dee]

abbreviation

plural

Ph.D.s 

1. the highest degree, a doctorate, awarded by a graduate school in a field of academic study, usually to a person who has completed at least three years of graduate study and a dissertation approved by a committee of professors.

2. a person who has been awarded this degree.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Ph.D.¹

First recorded in 1870–75; from Latin Philosophiae Doctor

Example Sentences

Ph.D., associate professor of radiology and neurology in the Department of Radiology at Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri.

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With a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, Xi spent years living in Silicon Valley before returning to China to develop advanced robots for Midea.

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Getting in is a feat in itself: Of the approximately 800 who apply each year for the economics department’s Ph.D. program, only 40 are accepted, with 20 to 24 enrolling.

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He received his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. from Harvard.

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Su has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a deep understanding of the physics behind her company’s products.

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Related Words

• alum 
• alumna 
• alumnus 
• doctor 
• grad 
• recipient