/ ˌbækəˈlɔːriət; NAmE / noun
1.
the last secondary school exam in France and other countries, and in some international schools :
to sit / take / pass / fail your baccalaureate
—see also international baccalaureate
2.
(in the US) a religious service or talk for students who have completed high school or college
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WORD ORIGIN
mid 17th cent. (in the sense of a university bachelor's degree): 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.