Baccalaureate
//bækəˈlɔːɹɪət// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A bachelor's degree.
- 2 an academic degree conferred on someone who has successfully completed undergraduate studies wordnet
- 3 A high school completion exam and qualification awarded in many countries (e.g. Finland, France, Moldova, Romania), designed to enable students to pursue higher education.
- 4 a farewell sermon to a graduating class at their commencement ceremonies wordnet
- 5 A farewell address in the form of a sermon delivered to a graduating class. US
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- 6 The International Baccalaureate.
Example
More examples""If you get your Baccalaureate, I'll buy you a bike," the father told his son."
Etymology
First attested in 1625; borrowed from French baccalauréat, from Medieval Latin baccalaureātus, from Medieval Latin baccalaureus, an alteration made to baccalārius (“young man aspiring to knighthood, apprentice, bachelor”) for it to resemble bacca lauri (“laurel berry”) (the ancient symbol of victory). See bachelor and -ate (forms nouns denoting rank or office).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.