3 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Degree \De*gree"\, n. [F. degr['e], OF. degret, fr. LL.
degradare. See {Degrade}.]
1. A step, stair, or staircase. [Obs.]
By ladders, or else by degree. --Rom. of R.
2. One of a series of progressive steps upward or downward,
in quality, rank, acquirement, and the like; a stage in
progression; grade; gradation; as, degrees of vice and
virtue; to advance by slow degrees; degree of comparison.
3. The point or step of progression to which a person has
arrived; rank or station in life; position. ``A dame of
high degree.'' --Dryden. ``A knight is your degree.''
--Shak. ``Lord or lady of high degree.'' --Lowell.
4. Measure of advancement; quality; extent; as, tastes differ
in kind as well as in degree.
The degree of excellence which proclaims genius, is
different in different times and different places.
--Sir. J.
Reynolds.
5. Grade or rank to which scholars are admitted by a college
or university, in recognition of their attainments; as,
the degree of bachelor of arts, master, doctor, etc.
Note: In the United States diplomas are usually given as the
evidence of a degree conferred. In the humanities the
first degree is that of bachelor of arts (B. A. or A.
B.); the second that of master of arts (M. A. or A.
M.). The degree of bachelor (of arts, science,
divinity, law, etc.) is conferred upon those who
complete a prescribed course of undergraduate study.
The first degree in medicine is that of doctor of
medicine (M. D.). The degrees of master and doctor are
sometimes conferred, in course, upon those who have
completed certain prescribed postgraduate studies, as
doctor of philosophy (Ph. D.); but more frequently the
degree of doctor is conferred as a complimentary
recognition of eminent services in science or letters,
or for public services or distinction (as doctor of
laws (LL. D.) or doctor of divinity (D. D.), when they
are called honorary degrees.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
degree
n 1: a position on a scale of intensity or amount or quality; "a
moderate degree of intelligence"; "a high level of care
is required"; "it is all a matter of degree" [syn: {grade},
{level}]
2: a specific identifiable position in a continuum or series or
especially in a process; "a remarkable degree of
frankness"; "at what stage are the social sciences?" [syn:
{level}, {stage}, {point}]
3: an award conferred by a college or university signifying
that the recipient has satisfactorily completed a course
of study; "he earned his degree at Princeton summa cum
laude" [syn: {academic degree}]
4: a unit of temperature on a specified scale; "the game was
played in spite of the 40-degree temperature"
5: a measure for arcs and angles; "there are 360 degrees in a
circle" [syn: {arcdegree}]
6: the highest power of a term or variable
7: the seriousness of something (e.g., a burn or crime);
"murder in the second degree"; "a second degree burn"
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:
degree
The degree (or valency) of a node in a graph is the number of
edges joined to it.