Meaning

• 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.)

  "She has two bachelor's degrees and is studying towards a master's degree."

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

  "A right angle is a ninety-degree angle."

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

  "180 degrees Fahrenheit is equivalent to 100 degrees Celsius."

• The sum of the exponents of a term; the order of a polynomial.

  "A quadratic polynomial is a polynomial of degree 2."

• The dimensionality of a field extension.

  "The Galois field \operatorname{GF}(125) = \operatorname{GF}(5^3) has degree 3 over its subfield \operatorname{GF}(5)."

• The number of edges that a vertex takes part in; a valency.

• The number of logical connectives in a formula.

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

• A unit of measurement of latitude and longitude which together identify a location on the Earth's surface.

• (grammar) Any of the three stages (positive, comparative, superlative) in the comparison of an adjective or an adverb.

• (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.

• (genealogy) A ‘step’ in genealogical descent.

• One's relative state or experience; way, manner.

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

  "To what degree do the two accounts of the accident concur?"