WordGarden.iodegree
A2Pronunciation
UK
- /dɪɡrˈiː/
US
- /dɪˈɡri/
Meanings
Noun
a formal educational qualification awarded by a college or university
the amount, extent, or intensity of something
a unit used to measure temperature or angles
More meaningsFewer meanings
a level or step in an ordered scale, classification, or relationship
Beyond the definition
A "degree" can mean many things! Think about how hot or cold something is—we measure that in degrees Fahrenheit or Celsius. It can also describe a level of something, like "a high degree of difficulty." And if you work hard at school, you might earn a college degree. Most of the time, it is about measuring amount: a slight degree of confidence, a big degree of uncertainty, or a certain degree of risk.
The word "degree" has a surprisingly wide range of meanings, all tied to the idea of measurement or level. Most people first hear it in temperature: degrees Celsius (°C) and Fahrenheit (°F) are used to say how hot or cold something is. "The temperature reached 30 degrees Celsius today!"
But a degree also means the degree of intensity or amount of a trait: a high degree of professionalism, a degree of risk, a slight degree of confidence. In this use, it tells us how much of something is present.
Perhaps most famously, it is an academic title—Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree, or Doctorate—earned after completing a course of study. "She worked hard and finally earned her medical degree." That use points to a specific level of achievement in a field.
Beyond those, the word is used in geometry and geography, where it measures angles, like the 90 degrees of a right angle, and describes locations using latitude and longitude. It can also appear in ideas like "degrees of kinship."
So whether you're talking about heat, intensity, learning, or space, "degree" is about scale—how much, how far, or how high something goes.
Examples
- 1
Weather forecast
It’s supposed to be 28 degrees tomorrow.
- 2
Temperature scale
Water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius.
- 3
University subject
She has a degree in engineering from a university in Seoul.
- Patterndegree in + subject
a university qualification in that subject
- 4
Job requirements
You don’t need a college degree for this job.
More examplesFewer examples
- 5
Required quality
The job requires a high degree of patience.
- Patterna degree of + quality
an amount or level of it
- 6
Investment risk
There’s always some degree of risk when you invest money.
- 7
Partial agreement
I agree with you to some degree, but not completely.
- Phraseto some degree
partly
- 8
Angle measurement
The road bends at a sharp 90-degree angle.
See also
Forms and spellings
2 forms open this card.
Main spelling
- degreenoun
Forms
- degreespluralnoun