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11 dictionary results for: degree
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
de·gree       [di-gree] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.any of a series of steps or stages, as in a process or course of action; a point in any scale.
2.a stage or point in or as if in progression or retrogression: We followed the degrees of her recovery with joy.
3.a stage in a scale of intensity or amount: a high degree of mastery.
4.extent, measure, scope, or the like: To what degree will he cooperate?
5.a stage in a scale of rank or station; relative standing in society, business, etc.: His uncouth behavior showed him to be a man of low degree.
6.Education. an academic title conferred by universities and colleges as an indication of the completion of a course of study, or as an honorary recognition of achievement.
7.a unit of measure, as of temperature or pressure, marked off on the scale of a measuring instrument: This thermometer shows a scale of degrees between only 20° and 40° C.
8.Geometry. the 360th part of a complete angle or turn, often represented by the sign°, as in 45°, which is read as 45 degrees. Compare angle1 (def. 1c).
9.the distinctive classification of a crime according to its gravity: murder in the first degree.
10.Grammar. one of the parallel formations of adjectives and adverbs used to express differences in quality, quantity, or intensity. In English, low and careful are the positive degree, lower and more careful are the comparative degree, lowest and most careful are the superlative degree.
11.Mathematics.
a.the sum of the exponents of the variables in an algebraic term: x3 and 2x2y are terms of degree three.
b.the term of highest degree of a given equation or polynomial: The expression 3x2y + y2 + 1 is of degree three.
c.the exponent of the derivative of highest order appearing in a given differential equation.
12.Music. a tone or step of the scale.
13.Astrology. any of the 360 equal divisions of the ecliptic measured counterclockwise from the vernal equinox. Each of the 12 signs of the zodiac contains 30 degrees.
14.a certain distance or remove in the line of descent, determining the proximity of relationship: a cousin of the second degree.
15.Archaic. a line or point on the earth or the celestial sphere, as defined by degrees of latitude.
16.Obsolete. a step, as of a stair.
—Idioms
17.by degrees, by easy stages; gradually: She grew angrier by degrees.
18.to a degree,
a.to a considerable extent; exceedingly.
b.to a small extent; somewhat: He is to a degree difficult to get along with.
[Origin: 1200–50; ME degre < AF, OF < VL *dégradus; see de-, grade]

—Related forms
de·greed, adjective
de·gree·less, adjective

—Synonyms 2. step, mark, grade, level, phase.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
de·gree       (dĭ-grē')  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. One of a series of steps in a process, course, or progression; a stage: proceeded to the next degree of difficulty.
  2. A step in a direct hereditary line of descent or ascent: First cousins are two degrees from their common ancestor.
  3. Relative social or official rank, dignity, or position.
  4. Relative intensity or amount, as of a quality or attribute: a high degree of accuracy.
  5. The extent or measure of a state of being, an action, or a relation: modernized their facilities to a large degree.
  6. A unit division of a temperature scale.
  7. Mathematics A planar unit of angular measure equal in magnitude to 1/360 of a complete revolution.
  8. A unit of latitude or longitude, equal to 1/360 of a great circle.
  9. Mathematics
    1. The greatest sum of the exponents of the variables in a term of a polynomial or polynomial equation.
    2. The exponent of the derivative of highest order in a differential equation in standard form.
    3. An academic title given by a college or university to a student who has completed a course of study: received the Bachelor of Arts degree at commencement.
    4. A similar title conferred as an honorary distinction.
    5. One of the seven notes of a diatonic scale.
    6. A space or line of the staff.
    1. An academic title given by a college or university to a student who has completed a course of study: received the Bachelor of Arts degree at commencement.
    2. A similar title conferred as an honorary distinction.
    3. One of the seven notes of a diatonic scale.
    4. A space or line of the staff.
  11. Law A division or classification of a specific crime according to its seriousness: murder in the second degree.
  12. A classification of the severity of an injury, especially a burn: a third-degree burn.
  13. Grammar One of the forms used in the comparison of adjectives and adverbs. For example, tall is the positive degree, taller the comparative degree, and tallest the superlative degree of the adjective tall.
  14. Music
    1. One of the seven notes of a diatonic scale.
    2. A space or line of the staff.


[Middle English degre, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *dēgradus : Latin dē-, de- + Latin gradus, step; see ghredh- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
degree 
c.1230, from O.Fr. degre "a degree, step, rank," from V.L. *degradus "a step," from L.L. degredare, from L. de- "down" + gradus "step" (see grade). Most modern senses date from M.E., from notion of a hierarchy of steps. Meaning "a grade of crime" is 1676; that of "a unit of temperature" is from 1727. The division of the circle into 360 degrees is very ancient and was known in Babylon and Egypt. It is perhaps from the daily motion of the sun through the zodiac in the course of a year.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
degree

noun
1. a position on a scale of intensity or amount or quality; "a moderate grade of intelligence"; "a high level of care is required"; "it is all a matter of degree" 
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?" 
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 measure for arcs and angles; "there are 360 degrees in a circle" 
5. the highest power of a term or variable 
6. a unit of temperature on a specified scale; "the game was played in spite of the 40-degree temperature" 
7. the seriousness of something (e.g., a burn or crime); "murder in the second degree"; "a second degree burn" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

degree

see by degrees; third degree; to some degree; to the nth degree.


The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
degree       (dĭ-grē')  Pronunciation Key 
  1. A unit division of a temperature scale.
    1. A unit for measuring an angle or an arc of a circle. One degree is 1/360 of the circumference of a circle.
    2. This unit used to measure latitude or longitude on the Earth's surface.
  3. The greatest sum of the exponents of the variables in a term of a polynomial or polynomial equation. For example, x3 + 2xy + x is of the third degree.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
degree

In geometry, a unit of measurement of angles, 1/360 of a circle. In physics, a unit of temperature (see Celsius, Fahrenheit, and Kelvin scale). A degree on the Fahrenheit scale is smaller than a degree on the Celsius or Kelvin scale. Degrees on the Celsius and Kelvin scales are the same size.


The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

degree de·gree (dĭ-grē')
n.


  1. Abbr. deg, deg. A unit of measure on a temperature scale.
  2. A division of a circle, equal to 1/360 of its circumference.
  3. A position or rank within a graded series.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: de·gree
Function: noun
1 : a step in a direct line of descent or in the line of ascent to a common ancestor
2 a : a measure of the seriousness of a crime —see also FIFTH DEGREE, FIRST DEGREE,, FOURTH DEGREE, SECOND DEGREE, THIRD DEGREE
NOTE: Crimes are rated by degrees for the purpose of imposing more severe punishments for more serious crimes. b : a measure of care; also : a measure of negligence esp. in connection with bailments —see also CARE, NEGLIGENCE

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

degree
The degree (or valency) of a node in a graph is the number of edges joined to it.

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

The youth attained his bachelor's degree, and left the university. --Macaulay.

6. (Genealogy) A certain distance or remove in the line of descent, determining the proximity of blood; one remove in the chain of relationship; as, a relation in the third or fourth degree.

In the 11th century an opinion began to gain ground in Italy, that third cousins might marry, being in the seventh degree according to the civil law. --Hallam.

7. (Arith.) Three figures taken together in numeration; thus, 140 is one degree, 222,140 two degrees.

8. (Algebra) State as indicated by sum of exponents; more particularly, the degree of a term is indicated by the sum of the exponents of its literal factors; thus, a^2b^3c is a term of the sixth degree. The degree of a power, or radical, is denoted by its index, that of an equation by the greatest sum of the exponents of the unknown quantities in any term; thus, ax^4 + bx^2 = c, and mx^2y^2 + nyx = p, are both equations of the fourth degree.

9. (Trig.) A 360th part of the circumference of a circle, which part is taken as the principal unit of measure for arcs and angles. The degree is divided into 60 minutes and the minute into 60 seconds.

10. A division, space, or interval, marked on a mathematical or other instrument, as on a thermometer.

11. (Mus.) A line or space of the staff.

Note: The short lines and their spaces are added degrees.

Accumulation of degrees. (Eng. Univ.) See under Accumulation.

By degrees, step by step; by little and little; by moderate advances. "I'll leave it by degrees." --Shak.

Degree of a curve or surface (Geom.), the number which expresses the degree of the equation of the curve or surface in rectilinear co["o]rdinates. A straight line will, in general, meet the curve or surface in a number of points equal to the degree of the curve or surface and no more.

Degree of latitude (Geog.), on the earth, the distance on a meridian between two parallels of latitude whose latitudes differ from each other by one degree. This distance is not the same on different parts of a meridian, on account of the flattened figure of the earth, being 68.702 statute miles at the equator, and 69.396 at the poles.

Degree of longitude, the distance on a parallel of latitude between two meridians that make an angle of one degree with each other at the poles -- a distance which varies as the cosine of the latitude, being at the equator 69.16 statute miles.

To a degree, to an extreme; exceedingly; as, mendacious to a degree.

It has been said that Scotsmen . . . are . . . grave to a degree on occasions when races more favored by nature are gladsome to excess. --Prof. Wilson.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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