Ph.D.
Americanabbreviation
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Ph.D.s
plural
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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.
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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.
Mazzini and Nathan Shunk, a third-year Ph.D. student, recently published a study defining "vertical marine heatwaves" and developing a classification system for them in the Bay.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026
“Parents shouldn’t need a Ph.D. in chemistry to understand what they’re feeding their kids.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026
Harvard has slashed admissions of new doctoral students in various social-science programs as it evaluates “the future model of Ph.D. education.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
Working with Yi Guo, Ph.D., and Jiang Bian, Ph.D., the team used artificial intelligence to analyze deidentified UF Health records collected from 2012 to 2024.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 27, 2026
Now she is a candidate for a Ph.D. in French literature at NYU.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
