From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
degree
n 1: a position on a scale of intensity or amount or quality; "a
moderate grade of intelligence"; "a high level of care is
required"; "it is all a matter of degree" [syn: degree,
grade, level]
2: a specific identifiable position in a continuum or series or
especially in a process; "a remarkable degree of frankness";
"at what stage are the social sciences?" [syn: degree,
level, stage, point]
3: an award conferred by a college or university signifying that
the recipient has satisfactorily completed a course of study;
"he earned his degree at Princeton summa cum laude" [syn:
academic degree, degree]
4: a measure for arcs and angles; "there are 360 degrees in a
circle" [syn: degree, arcdegree]
5: the highest power of a term or variable
6: a unit of temperature on a specified scale; "the game was
played in spite of the 40-degree temperature"
7: the seriousness of something (e.g., a burn or crime); "murder
in the second degree"; "a second degree burn"