Meanings
noundoctorate (plural doctorates)
plural doctorates
- The highest degree awarded by a university faculty.
verbdoctorate (third-person singular simple present doctorates, present participle doctorating, simple past and past participle doctorated)
present singular third person doctorates · participle present doctorating · participle past doctorated · past doctorated
- archaicTo make (someone) into a doctor.
He was bred […] in Oxford and there doctorated.
a. 1662 (date written), Thomas Fuller, The History of the Worthies of England, London: […] J[ohn] G[rismond,] W[illiam] L[eybourne] and W[illiam] G[odbid], published 1662, →OCLC1 more example
Even after Salernum had a teacher of law [...] it could not doctorate in law.
1886, Simon Somerville Laurie, Lectures on the Rise and Early Constitution of Universities
Synonyms & antonyms
nounone of the highest earned academic degrees conferred by a university
Similar
doctor's degree
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From Latin doctōrātus.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic دُكْتُورَاة
- دُكْتُورَاة (duktūrāh)highest degree awarded by a university faculty
Catalan doctorat
- doctorathighest degree awarded by a university faculty
Chinese Mandarin 博士
- 博士 (bóshì)highest degree awarded by a university faculty
Czech doktorát
- doktoráthighest degree awarded by a university faculty
Danish doktorgrad
- doktorgradhighest degree awarded by a university faculty
Dutch doctorsgraad, doctoraat
- doctorsgraadhighest degree awarded by a university faculty
- doctoraathighest degree awarded by a university faculty
Esperanto doktoriĝo
- doktoriĝohighest degree awarded by a university faculty
Finnish tohtorinarvo, tohtoraatti
- tohtorinarvohighest degree awarded by a university faculty
- tohtoraattihighest degree awarded by a university faculty
- tohtorihighest degree awarded by a university faculty
French doctorat
- doctorathighest degree awarded by a university faculty
German Doktorgrad, Doktorat
- Doktorgradhighest degree awarded by a university faculty
- Doktorathighest degree awarded by a university faculty
- Doktortitelhighest degree awarded by a university faculty
Greek διδακτορικό, διδακτορία
- διδακτορικό (didaktorikó)highest degree awarded by a university faculty
- διδακτορία (didaktoría)highest degree awarded by a university faculty
Hebrew דּוֹקְטוֹרָט, דוקטור
- דּוֹקְטוֹרָט (doktorát)highest degree awarded by a university faculty
- דוקטור (doktór)highest degree awarded by a university faculty
- תואר שלישי (to'ár shlishí)highest degree awarded by a university faculty
Hungarian doktorátus
- doktorátushighest degree awarded by a university faculty
Icelandic doktorsgráða
- doktorsgráðahighest degree awarded by a university faculty
Italian dottorato
- dottoratohighest degree awarded by a university faculty
Japanese 博士号, 博士
- 博士号 (hakushigō)highest degree awarded by a university faculty
- 博士 (hakushi)highest degree awarded by a university faculty
Korean 박사
- 박사 (baksa)highest degree awarded by a university faculty
Latin doctōrātus
- doctōrātushighest degree awarded by a university faculty
Malay ijazah kedoktoran
- ijazah kedoktoranhighest degree awarded by a university faculty
Māori tohu tākuta, tākutatanga
- tohu tākutahighest degree awarded by a university faculty
- tākutatangahighest degree awarded by a university faculty
Norwegian Bokmål doktorgrad, doktortittel
- doktorgradhighest degree awarded by a university faculty
- doktortittelhighest degree awarded by a university faculty
Persian دکتری, دکترا
- دکتری (doktori)highest degree awarded by a university faculty
- دکترا (doktorâ)highest degree awarded by a university faculty
Polish doktorat
- doktorathighest degree awarded by a university faculty
Portuguese doutorado, doutoramento
- doutoradohighest degree awarded by a university faculty
- doutoramentohighest degree awarded by a university faculty
Romanian doctorat
- doctorathighest degree awarded by a university faculty
Russian до́кторская сте́пень, доктора́т
- до́кторская сте́пень (dóktorskaja stépenʹ)highest degree awarded by a university faculty
- доктора́т (doktorát)highest degree awarded by a university faculty
Spanish doctorado
- doctoradohighest degree awarded by a university faculty
Swedish doktorsgrad, doktorstitel
- doktorsgradhighest degree awarded by a university faculty
- doktorstitelhighest degree awarded by a university faculty
Turkish doktora
- doktorahighest degree awarded by a university faculty
Ukrainian до́кторський сту́пінь, доктора́т
- до́кторський сту́пінь (dóktorsʹkyj stúpinʹ)highest degree awarded by a university faculty
- доктора́т (doktorát)highest degree awarded by a university faculty
Vietnamese tiến sĩ
- tiến sĩhighest degree awarded by a university faculty
Welsh doethuriaeth
- doethuriaethhighest degree awarded by a university faculty
Cite this entry
APA
doctorate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doctorate
MLA
“doctorate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doctorate. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “doctorate,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doctorate.
Source: doctorate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.