Etymology and historical meanings

• The word is from Old French bacheler "knight bachelor", a young squire in training, ultimately from Latin baccalarius, a vassal farmer.
• The Old French term crossed into English around 1300, referring to one belonging to the lowest stage of knighthood. Knights bachelor were either poor vassals who couldn't afford to take the field under their own banner, or knights too young to support the responsibility and dignity of knights banneret.
• from the 14th century, the term was also used for a junior member of a guild, otherwise known as "yeomen", or university.
• Hence, an ecclesiastic of an inferior grade, for example a young monk or even recently appointed canon (Severtius, de episcopis Lugdunen-sibus, p. 377, in du Cange).
• Those holding the preliminary degree of a university (or of a four-year college, in the American system of higher education). In this sense the word baccalarius or baccalaureus first appears at the University of Paris in the 13th century, in the system of degrees established under the auspices of Pope Gregory IX, as applied to scholars still in statu pupillari. Thus there were two classes of baccalarii: the baccalarii cursores, for example theological candidates passed for admission to the divinity course, and the baccalarii dispositi, who, having completed this course, were entitled to proceed to the higher degrees. The term baccalaureus is a pun combining the prosaic baccalarius with bacca lauri "laurel berry" -- per the American Heritage Dictionary, "bacca" is the Old Irish word for "farmer" + laureus, "laurel berry," the idea being that a "baccalaureate" had farmed (cultivated) his mind.
• Modernly, in Anglophone academia, the Bachelor's Degree is part of a distinct hierarchical ranking of six degrees. From lowest to highest, they are: Associate's Degree, a two-year degree most typically conferred in the United States by junior and community colleges; Bachelor's Degree, a three-, four- or five-year undergraduate degree conferred by universities and, in the United States, also by senior (four-year) colleges; Master's Degree, the first graduate degree above the baccalaureate; Specialist Degree, a degree that ranks above the Master's but below the Doctorate; Doctoral degree, the highest degree awarded in most fields of study, the doctorate may be a research degree (for example, Ph.D. or D.Phil) or a professional degree (for example, J.D./D.Jur., D.Min., Ed.D., M.D., D.M.A./A.Mus.D., etc.); and the Post-Doctoral Degree, which is a doctoral degree that requires the conferee to have previously earned another doctoral degree. For example, the S.J.D./D.J.S. is conferred upon people who already possess the J.D./D.Jur. degree.
• At Oxford and Cambridge the bachelor can proceed to his mastership by simply retaining his name on the books and paying certain fees; but generally, further studies are necessary. But in no case is the bachelor a full member of the university, meaning that he doesn't have the right to teach. With the admission of women to universities from the late 19th century, the term in its academic sense could also apply to women.
• The sense of "unmarried man" dates to 1385. The feminine bachelorette is from 1935, replacing earlier bachelor-girl. In 19th century American slang to bach was used as a verb meaning "to live as an unmarried man".

Penal laws and customs

Famous lifetime bachelors