Noun

(en noun)

(obsolete, outside, heraldry) A step on a set of stairs; the rung of a ladder.

An individual step, or stage, in any process or scale of values.

A stage of rank or privilege; social standing.

* 1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , Luke XX:

Master, we knowe that thou sayest, and teachest ryght, nether considerest thou eny mannes degre , but techest the waye of god truely.

(genealogy) A ‘step’ in genealogical descent.

* 2002 , , The Great Nation , Penguin 2003, page 140:

Louis created the École militaire in Paris in 1751, in which 500 scholarships were designated for noblemen able to prove four degrees of noble status.

* 1851 , (Herman Melville), (Moby-Dick) :

If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree , some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.

The amount that an entity possesses a certain property; relative intensity, extent.

*

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.}}

A stage of proficiency or qualification in a course of study, now especially an award bestowed by a university or, in some countries, a college, as a certification of academic achievement. (In the United States, can include secondary schools.)

(geometry) A unit of measurement of angle equal to 1/360 of a circle's circumference.

(physics) A unit of measurement of temperature on any of several scales, such as Celsius or Fahrenheit.

(mathematics) The sum of the exponents of a term; the order of a polynomial.

(graph theory) The number of edges that a vertex takes part in; a valency.

(surveying) The curvature of a circular arc, expressed as the angle subtended by a fixed length of arc or chord.