degree

plural degrees

1. educationA completed curriculum of study in tertiary education.

   She has two bachelor's degrees and is studying towards a master's degree.

2. geometryA unit of measurement of angle equal to ¹⁄₃₆₀ of a circle's circumference.First known use 14th c.

   A right angle is a ninety-degree angle.

   1 more example

   Most humans have a field of vision of almost 180 degrees.

   Synonyms: °, arcdegree

3. natural sciencesA unit of measurement of temperature on any of several scales, such as Celsius or Fahrenheit.First known use 18th c.

   Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.

   1 more example

   212 degrees Fahrenheit is equal to 100 degrees Celsius.

   Synonyms: °

4. algebraThe sum of the exponents of a term; the order of a polynomial.First known use 18th c.

   A quadratic polynomial is a polynomial of degree 2.

5. field theoryalgebraThe dimensionality of a field extension.

   The set of complex numbers constitutes a field extension of degree 2 over the real numbers.

   1 more example

   The Galois field #92;operatorname#123;GF#125;(125)#61;#92;operatorname#123;GF#125;(5³) has degree 3 over its subfield #92;operatorname#123;GF#125;(5).

6. graph theoryThe number of edges that a vertex takes part in; a valency.
7. human sciencesThe number of logical connectives in a formula.
8. geographyThe curvature of a circular arc, expressed as the angle subtended by a fixed length of arc or chord.
9. geographyA unit of measurement of latitude and longitude which together identify a location on the Earth's surface.

   Synonyms: °, °

10. grammarAny of the stages (like positive, comparative, superlative, elative) in the comparison of an adjective or an adverb.
11. obsolete outside heraldryA step on a set of stairs; the rung of a ladder.First known use 13th c.
12. An individual step, or stage, in any process or scale of values.First known use 13th c.

    The chazzan-artist of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Eastern Europe where the chazzan reached the highest degree as an artist, casting from himself all those tasks historically associated with his office which drew him down to the station of beadle and servitor of the community.

    1929, Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, Jewish Music: Its Historical Development, page 181

13. A stage of rank or privilege; social standing.First known use 13th c.

    And they axed hym ſayinge: Maſter / we knowe that thou ſayest / and teacheſt ryght / nether conſidereſt thou eny mãnes degre / but teacheſt the waye of god truely.

    1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, The Gospell off S. Luke xx:[21], folio cx, recto

    1 more example

    But when Adam delued, and Eue ſpan, VVho was then a Gentleman. Brethren, brethren, it were better to haue this communitie, Then to haue this difference in degrees: The landlord his rent, the lawyer his fees. So quickly the poore mans ſubſtance is ſpent […]

    1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], →OCLC, Act I

14. genealogyA ‘step’ in genealogical descent.First known use 14th c.

    Louis created the École militaire in Paris in 1751, in which 500 scholarships were designated for noblemen able to prove four degrees of noble status.

    2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 140

15. archaicOne's relative state or experience; way, manner.First known use 14th c.

    If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.

    1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

16. The amount that an entity possesses a certain property; relative intensity, extent.First known use 14th c.

    To what degree do the two accounts of the accident concur?

    2 more examples

    In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.

    1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

    Then there are the sums that Abramovich would be permitted to invest within the parameters of the profit and sustainability rules – £105m over a rolling three-year period. That, plainly, has stopped and so, to repeat, it is imperative that the transfer of ownership happens with a degree of speed.

    March 11 2022, David Hytner, “Chelsea are in crisis but there is no will to leave club on their knees”, in The Guardian

1. A surname.