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The question will not be asked – a priori – by an examiner. But knowing the origin of the word ” baccalaureate ” will perhaps allow you to shine better in society….
Excellent question … which itself is never asked during the exam. Why is the baccalaureate called that? What does this funny word mean? When is it dating and what is its history?
A little history
To begin the history of the baccalaureate, you have to wait for the 19th century. Emperor Napoleon I wanted to completely reform the French educational system, and aimed to give “the first necessary knowledge to those who are called upon to fulfill public functions , to exercise liberal functions or to live in the enlightened classes of society. “In short, to form an elite. He then created high schools and re-established the faculties of law, medicine, science or theology of the Ancien Régime. Students access it by obtaining a diploma from the University of Letters, called “master of arts” … or “baccalaureate”. A name that takes root in a Latin expression, to underline the essential teaching of Greco-Latin culture at the Faculty of Letters .
From the etymological origin of the “baccalaureate” …
The term “baccalaureate” therefore finds its roots in the Latin expression “bacca laurea”, which means “the laurel wreath”, traditionally given to celebrate the triumph or the glory of the one who the door .
As for the word bachelor, its origin does not derive exactly from “bacca laurea”. According to the Dictionary of Words and Things, published in 1889, bachelor literally means “cow keeper”, and refers to young men. In the sense that this word takes over its evolution, youth remains at the heartof its definition. In the Middle Ages, any unmarried young man was called a “bachelor”. It also designates a “young nobleman aspiring to become a knight”.
Historically, the “baccalaureate” has kept a strong common sense: that of the passage from adolescence to adulthood.