A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree earned for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts four years, but can range anywhere from three to seven years depending on the region of the world. In some exceptional cases, it may also be the name of a postgraduate degree, such as a bachelor of civil law, the bachelor of music, the bachelor of philosophy, or the bachelor of sacred theology degree.
During the Renaissance, those who received a doctorate, upon passing their final examinations, were decorated with berried branches of bay, an ancient symbol of highest honor. From this ancient custom derives the French word baccalauréat (from the Latin bacca, a berry, and laureus, of the bay laurel), and, by modification, the term "bachelor" in referring to one who holds a university degree.
Read more about Bachelor's Degree: Bachelor's Degree Variations, Types
Famous quotes containing the words bachelor and/or degree:
“Never trust a husband too far, nor a bachelor too near.”
—Helen Rowland (1875–1950)
“Essential truth, the truth of the intellectualists, the truth with no one thinking it, is like the coat that fits tho no one has ever tried it on, like the music that no ear has listened to. It is less real, not more real, than the verified article; and to attribute a superior degree of glory to it seems little more than a piece of perverse abstraction-worship.”
—William James (1842–1910)