bachillerato

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin baccalaureatus, from Latin baccalaureus; a compound from bacca (“berry”) and laurea (“laurel”), due to the laurel crown given to the graduates.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /bat͡ʃiʝeˈɾato/ [ba.t͡ʃi.ʝeˈɾa.t̪o]

• IPA^(key): /bat͡ʃiʝeˈɾato/ [ba.t͡ʃi.ʝeˈɾa.t̪o] (Equatorial Guinea, most of Spain and Latin America)
• IPA^(key): /bat͡ʃiʎeˈɾato/ [ba.t͡ʃi.ʎeˈɾa.t̪o] (rural northern Spain, Andes Mountains, Paraguay, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /bat͡ʃiʃeˈɾato/ [ba.t͡ʃi.ʃeˈɾa.t̪o] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /bat͡ʃiʒeˈɾato/ [ba.t͡ʃi.ʒeˈɾa.t̪o] (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ato
• Syllabification: ba‧chi‧lle‧ra‧to

Noun

bachillerato m (plural bachilleratos)

1. graduation certificate (degree from high school)

   Synonym: bachiller

2. ellipsis of bachillerato universitario (bachelor’s degree)
3. eleventh and twelfth grade

Further reading

• “bachillerato”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• “bachillerato”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010