baccalaureate
/ˌbækəˈlɔːrɪət/noun
1
- an examination intended to qualify successful candidates for higher education中学毕业会考。参见
I NTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE.
2
- a university bachelor's degree（大学）学士学位。
3
- US a religious service held at some educational institutions before commencement, including a farewell sermon to the graduating students〈美〉（某些学校中在毕业典礼前举行的）毕业生临别宗教仪式（包括为毕业生做的一次告别布道）。
词源
mid 17th cent. (in sense 2)： from French baccalauréat or medieval Latin baccalaureatus, from baccalaureus 'bachelor'. The earlier form baccalarius was altered by wordplay to conform with bacca lauri 'laurel berry'， because of the laurels awarded to scholars. Sense 1 dates from 1970.