Ph.D.
Americanabbreviation
plural
Ph.D.s-
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.
-
a person who has been awarded this degree.
Etymology
Origin of Ph.D.
First recorded in 1870–75; from Latin Philosophiae Doctor
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To realize its ambitions, the government has invested to build research labs and Ph.D. programs.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026
The philosophical bent of Palantir came from Karp, who holds a Ph.D. in neoclassical social theory from Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 4, 2026
L.D., and Ph.D. candidate in the departments of applied clinical research and hypertension section, cardiology division, at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
From Science Daily • Mar. 31, 2026
“He’s the one with a Ph.D. in financial planning,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
The dairy man had a Ph.D. in mathematics, and he must have had some training in philosophy.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
