baccalaureate

noun

bac·​ca·​lau·​re·​ate ˌba-kə-ˈlȯr-ē-ət 

-ˈlär-

1

: the degree of bachelor conferred by universities and colleges

2

a

: a sermon to a graduating class

b

: the service at which this sermon is delivered

Examples of baccalaureate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

On Tuesday, Harvard’s president, Alan M. Garber, addressed undergraduates in the class of 2025 during a speech at the university’s annual baccalaureate service. —Miles J. Herszenhorn, New York Times, 28 May 2025

The changes add a pathway to CPA licensure requiring a baccalaureate degree, including an accounting concentration, plus two years of experience, and passage of the Uniform CPA Examination. —Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes.com, 24 May 2025

The changes introduce a pathway to CPA licensure that requires a baccalaureate degree, including an accounting concentration, along with two (2) years of experience and the passage of the Uniform CPA Examination. —Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes.com, 17 May 2025

Seventeen years old, Fatima is in her last year of high school, readying for baccalaureate studies in Paris. —Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 16 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Medieval Latin baccalaureātus, respelling (perhaps influenced by bacca laurī "laurel berry") of bacheleriātus, from bachelarius "knight lacking retainers, young clerk, person with an initial university degree" + Latin -ātus -ate entry 2 — more at bachelor entry 1

First Known Use

circa 1649, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for baccalaureate

• laureate