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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Degree \De*gree"\, n. [F. degr['e], OF. degret, fr. LL.
degradare. See {Degrade}.]
1. A step, stair, or staircase. [Obs.]
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By ladders, or else by degree. --Rom. of R.
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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.
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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.
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4. Measure of advancement; quality; extent; as, tastes differ
in kind as well as in degree.
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The degree of excellence which proclaims genius, is
different in different times and different places.
--Sir. J.
Reynolds.
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5. Grade or rank to which scholars are admitted by a college
or university, in recognition of their attainments; also,
(informal) the diploma provided by an educational
institution attesting to the achievement of that rank; as,
the degree of bachelor of arts, master, doctor, etc.; to
hang one's degrees on the office wall.
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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
also conferred, in course, upon those who have
completed certain prescribed postgraduate studies, as
{doctor of philosophy} (Ph. D.); the degree of doctor
is also 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}.
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The youth attained his bachelor's degree, and
left the university. --Macaulay.
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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.
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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.
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7. (Arith.) Three figures taken together in numeration; thus,
140 is one degree, 222,140 two degrees.
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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^{2}b^{3}c
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^{2}y^{2} nyx = p, are both equations of the fourth
degree.
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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.
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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.
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Note: The short lines and their spaces are added degrees.
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{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 {Degree of a surface} (Geom.), the
number which expresses the degree of the equation of the
curve or surface in rectilinear coordinates. 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.
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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.
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