Definition, synonyms and related words
plural of degree
"The professor asked us to submit our thesis degrees by Friday, but we still had weeks left in the semester."
In plain English: Degrees are units used to measure how hot or cold something is, like the temperature outside.
"The temperature in our house dropped to ten degrees last night."
Usage: Use "degrees" to refer to multiple units of temperature or angles on a scale. Do not use it as a singular noun for an academic rank; that requires the word "degree."
Derived from Old French degré, which comes from Latin gradus meaning "step" or "pace." The term originally referred to steps on a staircase before evolving to denote units of measurement and academic ranks.