baccalaureus

Latin

Etymology

Alteration of baccalārius, influenced (by folk etymology) by Latin bacca (“berry”) and laurea (“laurel”) due to the fact that graduates wore laurel crowns filled with berries in order to represent the fruit of their study. See baccalārius for more.

Noun

baccalaureus m (genitive baccalaureī); second declension

1. (Medieval Latin) bachelor

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	baccalaureus	baccalaureī
genitive	baccalaureī	baccalaureōrum
dative	baccalaureō	baccalaureīs
accusative	baccalaureum	baccalaureōs
ablative	baccalaureō	baccalaureīs
vocative	baccalauree	baccalaureī

Related terms

• baccalaureatus
• bacca
• laureatus

Descendants

• → Old French: bacheler, baçalier, baceler, bachelier
  • Middle French: bacheler
    • French: bachelier
  • → Middle English: bacheler
    • English: bachelor
  • → Old Galician-Portuguese: bachiller, bachaler, bacheler, bacheller, bachiler
    • Portuguese: bacharel
      • → Hunsrik: Bascharell
• >? Russian: бакала́вр (bakalávr)