Degree

[Fr. degré, from Lat. de, and gradus, a step.] A step in progre , promotion, or advancement; gradation; as a degree of civilization, a degree of comparison, by slow degrees, . "Ill habits gather by unseen degrees." - Dryden. -Step in relationship, rank, cla , order, quality, or dignity; step in elevation or descent; measure; proportion; extent; as, a degree of excellence. ( Learning .) A distinction conferred on the students or members of a university, as a testimony of their proficiency in the arts or sciences, and entitling them to certain privileges. The origin of D. , like many other points connected with the early history of universities, is involved in obscurity. That they existed at a very early period is unquestionable, but there is no reason to believe that they were co-eval with the earliest universities. The oldest D. were those in arts; and the term bachelor , which designates the lowest D. in each faculty, would seem to justify us in tracing the whole system of D. to the university of Paris. The terms master and doctor were originally synonymous, and were commonly given to persons engaged in teaching, and not as titles conferred by authority after a prescribed course of study or a formal examination. Afterwards the term master was restricted to teachers of the liberal arts, and the title of doctor was a umed by the teachers of theology, law, and medicine. The masters and doctors afterwards adopted certain regulations, which were confirmed by public authority, to prevent unqualified persons from a uming their office; and hence these titles came to indicate a certain rank, and convey certain powers in the body scholastic. When this took place, and more especially when an initiatory stage was marked by the name of bachelor, the several designations were called steps or degrees, (Lat. gradus .) Every graduate had an equal right of teaching publicly in the university the subjects competent to his faculty up to the rank of his D. , and he even incurred an obligation to teach as a condition on which his D. was granted. D. are of two kinds: 1. Ordinary , or those which are conferred upon the mem algebra, but have distinct meanings when applied to differential equations. (Meteorol.) A name given to the spaces marked on a thermometer to indicate equal differences of temperature. To a degree. To an extreme point; very much; greatly; as, cowardly to a degree. Dehisce, ( dē-his',) v. n. [Lat. dehisco -de, and hisco, to gape.] To gape; to open, as the capsule of a plant. Dehiscence, (de-his'ens,) n. [From Lat. dehiscens.] gaping; act or practice of gaping. ( Bot .) The natural opening of the valves of certain fruits for the discharge of the seeds, or of the cells of anthers for emitting pollen, . - The season when capsules open. Dehiscent, a. [Lat. dehiscens, dehiscent is.] ( Bot . ) A term applied to those fruits which separate regularly round their axes, either wholly or partially, into several pieces, as seen in fig. 784. Dehors, ( do -hôrz',) prep. [Fr.] ( Law.) Something foreign to the matter in question.