baccalaureatus

Baccalaureatus is a Latin term used in scholarly and historical contexts to denote related to the baccalaureate, or to refer to a person who has earned a bachelor's degree. In Latin usage, the form can function as an adjective meaning “having obtained the baccalaureate” and, less commonly, as a nominal label for a degree holder. The more frequent ancient Latin noun for the degree itself is baccalaureus, from which the modern English terms bachelor and baccalaureate ultimately derive.

In the medieval and early modern university system, the baccalaureatus (often rendered as baccalaureus) signified the first formal degree following completion of the arts curriculum. This degree marked the student’s entry to the higher faculties and the road toward licentiate and master. The baccalaureatus thus functioned as both a credential and a stage in the standard academic sequence of the time: baccalaureate, licentiate, master.

Today, baccalaureatus appears mainly in Latin-language texts and ceremonial contexts. Contemporary references use “baccalaureate” to denote either the bachelor’s degree or, in some countries, a pre-university examination family known as the baccalaureat. In genuine Latin university titulature, degree titles are typically rendered as Artium Baccalaureus (Bachelor of Arts) or Scientiae Baccalaureus (Bachelor of Science); baccalaureatus remains a philological term, chiefly of historical interest.