Where does the word 'bachelor' come from in a Bachelor of Arts?

Question

Where does the word 'bachelor' come from in a Bachelor of Arts?

Answer 1

Bachelor is a degree, like master or PhD. It is the general term for the undergraduate degree. It originally comes from M.L. "baccalaureus" meaning "student with the first degree".

Answer 2

Excellent question - I had never thought of this before! I had to do a bit of research to be able to answer this one...

Alright, so the Bachelor of Arts is an undergraduate university degree on the arts.

The name 'Bachelor of Arts' came from the Latin 'Artium Baccalaureus', meaning 'Bachelor of Arts'. (I know that seems like we're going around in circles, but it was necessary to mention that.)

The word 'baccalaureus' comes from the Old French (the French language before c. 1400 CE) word 'bacheler', which means 'a young man aspiring to knighthood'.

Knighthood was/is valued as an extremely honourable rank, and it was therefore essential that an aspiring knight proved his worth in all fields: physical, social AND academic.

Therefore, someone who is a Bachelor of Arts these days can be likened to a knight-in-training: someone who is equipped with skills obtained through study and practice, who aspires to achieve further great things. It also refers to the 'junior' status of a Bachelor of Arts student, because this degree is in many ways considered a preliminary one - a B.A. student will usually pursue postgraduate study, just like a novice 'bacheler' will one day become a knight!

Hope this helps/is of some interest!

Answer 3

Those holding the preliminary degree of a university (or of a four-year college, in the American system of higher education). In this sense the word baccalarius or baccalaureus first appears at the University of Paris in the 13th century, in the system of degrees established under the auspices of Pope Gregory IX, as applied to scholars still in statu pupillari. Thus there were two classes of baccalarii: the baccalarii cursores, i.e. theological candidates passed for admission to the divinity course, and the baccalarii dispositi, who, having completed this course, were entitled to proceed to the higher degrees. The term baccalaureus is a pun combining the prosaic baccalarius with bacca lauri "laurel berry" -- per the American Heritage Dictionary, "bacca" is the Old Irish word for "farmer" + laureus, "laurel berry," the idea being that a "baccalaureate" had farmed (cultivated) his mind.

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