Degree

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French degré, from Vulgar Latin *degradus, from Latin de- + gradus

• Date: 13th century

Definitions

• 1 : a step or stage in a process, course, or order of classification <advanced by degrees>
• 2 a : a rank or grade of official, ecclesiastical, or social position <people of low degree>

b archaic : a particular standing especially as to dignity or worth

c : the civil condition or status of a person

• 3 : a step in a direct line of descent or in the line of ascent to a common ancestor
• 4 a obsolete : step, stair

b archaic : a member of a series arranged in steps

• 5 : a measure of damage to tissue caused by injury or disease — compare first-degree burn, second-degree burn, third-degree burn
• 6 a : the extent, measure, or scope of an action, condition, or relation <different in degree but not in kind>

b : relative intensity <a high degree of stress>

c : one of the forms or sets of forms used in the comparison of an adjective or adverb

d : a legal measure of guilt or negligence <found guilty of robbery in the first degree>

• 7 a : a title conferred on students by a college, university, or professional school on completion of a program of study

b : a grade of membership attained in a ritualistic order or society

c : an academic title conferred to honor distinguished achievement or service

d : the formal ceremonies observed in the conferral of such a distinction

• 8 : a unit of measure for angles equal to an angle with its vertex at the center of a circle and its sides cutting off 1⁄360 of the circumference; also : a unit of measure for arcs of a circle equal to the amount of arc that subtends a central angle of one degree
• 9 archaic : a position or space on the earth or in the heavens as measured by degrees of latitude
• 10 a : a step, note, or tone of a musical scale

b : a line or space of the musical staff

• 11 : one of the divisions or intervals marked on a scale of a measuring instrument; specifically : any of various units for measuring temperature
• 12 a : the sum of the exponents of the variables in the term of highest degree in a polynomial, polynomial function, or polynomial equation

b : the sum of the exponents of the variable factors of a monomial

c : the greatest power of the derivative of highest order in a differential equation after the equation has been rationalized and cleared of fractions with respect to the derivative