[de.gree] n [ME, fr. OF degre, fr. (assumed) VL degradus, fr. L de- + gradus] (13c) 1: a step or stage in a process, course, or order of classification "advanced by ~s"
2. a: a rank or grade of official, ecclesiastical, or social position "people of low ~" b archaic: a particular standing esp. as to dignity or worth c: the civil condition or status of a person
3: a step in a direct line of descent or in the line of ascent to a common ancestor
4. a obs: step, stair b archaic: a member of a series arranged in steps
5: a measure of damage to tissue caused by injury or disease--compare first-degree burn, second-degree burn, third-degree burn
6. a: the extent, measure, or scope of an action, condition, or relation "different in ~ but not in kind" b: relative intensity "a high ~ of stress" c: one of the forms or sets of forms used in the comparison of an adjective or adverb d: a legal measure of guilt or negligence "found guilty of robbery in the first ~"
7. a: a title conferred on students by a college, university, or professional school on completion of a program of study b: a grade of membership attained in a ritualistic order or society c: an academic title conferred to honor distinguished achievement or service d: the formal ceremonies observed in the conferral of such a distinction 8: a unit of measure for angles equal to an angle with its vertex at the center of a circle and its sides cutting off 1/360 of the circumference; also: a unit of measure for circular arcs equal to the amount of arc that subtends a central angle of one degree
9. archaic: a position or space on the earth or in the heavens as measured by degrees of latitude
10. a: a step, note, or tone of a musical scale b: a line or space of the musical staff 11: one of the divisions or intervals marked on a scale of a measuring instrument; specif: any of various units for measuring temperature 12 a: the sum of the exponents of the variables in the term of highest degree in a polynomial, polynomial function, or polynomial equation b: the sum of the exponents of the variable factors of a monomial c: the greatest power of the derivative of highest order in a differential equation after the equation has been rationalized and cleared of fractions with respect to the derivative -- de.greed adj -- to a degree 1: to a remarkable extent
2: in a small way