baccalaureate

pronunciation

How to pronounce baccalaureate in British English: UK [ˌbækəˈlɔ:riət]word uk audio image

How to pronounce baccalaureate in American English: US [ˌbækəˈlɔriɪt] word us audio image

  • Noun:
    a farewell sermon to a graduating class at their commencement ceremonies
    an academic degree conferred on someone who has successfully completed undergraduate studies

Word Origin

baccalaureate (n.)
1620s, "university degree of a bachelor," from Modern Latin baccalaureatus, from baccalaureus "student with the first degree," alteration of Medieval Latin baccalarius "one who has attained the lowest degree in a university, advanced student lecturing under his master's supervision but not yet having personal license" (altered by folk etymology or word-play, as if from bacca lauri "laurel berry," laurels being awarded for academic success). The Medieval Latin word is of uncertain origin; perhaps ultimately from Latin baculum "staff" (see bacillus), which the young student might carry. Or it might be a re-Latinization of bachelor in its academic sense. In modern U.S. usage, baccalaureate usually is short for baccalaureate sermon (1864), a religious farewell address to a graduating class at an American college, from the adjectival sense "pertaining to the university degree of bachelor."

Example

1. Instead comes a more rigorous set of tests , the english baccalaureate certificate .
2. At the boarding school in shanghai , the girls attend a class endorsed by the international baccalaureate .
3. Tiientsin art college baccalaureate , hongkong university and hongkong manufacture corporation build .
4. The older one went to a school that featured an international baccalaureate program in the upper school and several no-nonsense british teachers .
5. Young people in more than one hundred countries can attend schools that offer international baccalaureate programs .

more: >How to Use "baccalaureate" with Example Sentences