Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A document issued by an educational institution, such as a university, testifying that the recipient has earned a degree or has successfully completed a particular course of study.
  • noun A certificate conferring a privilege or honor.
  • noun An official document or charter.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To furnish with a diploma; certify by a diploma.
  • noun Originally, a letter or other composition written on paper or parchment and folded.
  • noun Hence Any letter, literary muniment, or public document. See diplomatics.
  • noun In modern use, a letter or writing, usually under seal and signed by competent authority, conferring some honor, privilege, or power, as that given by a college in evidence of a degree, or authorizing a physician to practise his profession, and the like.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A letter or writing, usually under seal, conferring some privilege, honor, or power; a document bearing record of a degree conferred by a literary society or educational institution.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A document issued by an educational institution testifying that the recipient has earned a degree or has successfully completed a particular course of study.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a document certifying the successful completion of a course of study

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin diplōma, letter of introduction, from Greek, document, folded paper, from diploos, double; see dwo- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin diploma, from Ancient Greek δίπλωμα (diplōma, "folded paper, license"), from διπλόω (diploō, "I double, fold over"), from διπλόος (diploos, "double").

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Examples

  • UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this what you call a diploma mailed (ph) to some extent?

    CNN Transcript Feb 13, 2008 2008

  • BTW, "diploma" is defined as "a document given by an educational institution conferring a degree on a person or certifying that the person has satisfactorily completed a course of study."

    Sound Politics: "More WASL delays coming?" 2007

  • Employers have decided a high school diploma is critical, and will prefer candidates that have one.

    Management 2010

  • BUT in the next breadth, of their plan to lower the standards for testing, he said: I want more than anything to be able to say with confidence that every Pennsylvania student who receives a diploma is ready for the real world.

    Education 2010

  • BUT in the next breadth, of their plan to lower the standards for testing, he said: I want more than anything to be able to say with confidence that every Pennsylvania student who receives a diploma is ready for the real world.

    barriers 2010

  • BUT in the next breadth, of their plan to lower the standards for testing, he said: I want more than anything to be able to say with confidence that every Pennsylvania student who receives a diploma is ready for the real world.

    barriers 2010

  • “A diploma is a very personal item, and people want to proudly display it in their offices and homes,” said Sidra Qureshi, president of Trinity Diversity Connection.

    2010 March « Anglican Samizdat 2010

  • Employers have decided a high school diploma is critical, and will prefer candidates that have one.

    8 posts from June 2009 2009

  • Pizza Hut Momma said ... angdesj ... you is just jealous. kg - I got me a diploma from the U of R journalism skool.

    Diary of a Temporarily Single Dad - Day 1 Tyler 2009

  • BUT in the next breadth, of their plan to lower the standards for testing, he said: I want more than anything to be able to say with confidence that every Pennsylvania student who receives a diploma is ready for the real world.

    Accountability 2010

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