_A_.
A.B. An abbreviation for _Artium Baccalaureus_, Bachelor of Arts.
The first degree taken by students at a college or university. It
is usually written B.A., q.v.
ABSIT. Latin; literally, _let him be absent_; leave of absence
from commons, given to a student in the English
universities.--_Gradus ad Cantab._
ACADEMIAN. A member of an academy; a student in a university or
college.
ACADEMIC. A student in a college or university.
A young _academic_ coming into the country immediately after this
great competition, &c.--_Forby's Vocabulary_, under _Pin-basket_.
A young _academic_ shall dwell upon a journal that treats of
trade, and be lavish in the praise of the author; while persons
skilled in those subjects hear the tattle with contempt.--_Watts's
Improvement of the Mind_.
ACADEMICALS. In the English universities, the dress peculiar to
the students and officers.
I must insist on your going to your College and putting on your
_academicals_.--_The Etonian_, Vol. II. p. 382.
The Proctor makes a claim of 6s. 8d. on every undergraduate whom
he finds _inermem_, or without his _academicals_.--_Gradus ad
Cantab._, p. 8.
If you say you are going for a walk, or if it appears likely, from
the time and place, you are allowed to pass, otherwise you may be
sent back to college to put on your _academicals_.--_Collegian's
Guide_, p. 177.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT. At Harvard College, every student admitted upon
examination, after giving a bond for the payment of all college
dues, according to the established laws and customs, is required
to sign the following _acknowledgment_, as it is called:--"I
acknowledge that, having been admitted to the University at
Cambridge, I am subject to its laws." Thereupon he receives from
the President a copy of the laws which he has promised to
obey.--_Laws Univ. of Cam., Mass._, 1848, p. 13.
ACT. In English universities, a thesis maintained in public by a
candidate for a degree, or to show the proficiency of a
student.--_Webster_.
The student proposes certain questions to the presiding officer of
the schools, who then nominates other students to oppose him. The
discussion is syllogistical and in Latin and terminates by the
presiding officer questioning the respondent, or person who is
said _to keep the act_, and his opponents, and dismissing them
with some remarks upon their respective merits.--_Brande_.
The effect of practice in such matters may be illustrated by the
habit of conversing in Latin, which German students do much more
readily than English, simply because the former practise it, and
hold public disputes in Latin, while the latter have long left off
"_keeping Acts_," as the old public discussions required of
candidates for a degree used to be called.--_Bristed's Five Years
in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 184.
The word was formerly used in Harvard College. In the "Orders of
the Overseers," May 6th, 1650, is the following: "Such that expect
to proceed Masters of Arts [are ordered] to exhibit their synopsis
of _acts_ required by the laws of the College."--_Quincy's Hist.
Harv. Univ._, Vol. I. p. 518.
Nine Bachelors commenced at Cambridge; they were young men of good
hope, and performed their _acts_ so as to give good proof of their
proficiency in the tongues and arts.--_Winthrop's Journal, by Mr.
Savage_, Vol. I. p. 87.
The students of the first classis that have beene these foure
years trained up in University learning (for their ripening in the
knowledge of the tongues, and arts) and are approved for their
manners, as they have _kept_ their publick _Acts_ in former
yeares, ourselves being present at them; so have they lately
_kept_ two solemn _Acts_ for their Commencement.--_New England's
First Fruits_, in _Mass. Hist. Coll._, Vol. I. p. 245.
But in the succeeding _acts_ ... the Latin syllogism seemed to
give the most content.--_Harvard Register_, 1827-28, p. 305.
2. The close of the session at Oxford, when Masters and Doctors
complete their degrees, whence the _Act Term_, or that term in
which the _act_ falls. It is always held with great solemnity. At
Cambridge, and in American colleges, it is called _Commencement_.
In this sense Mather uses it.
They that were to proceed Bachelors, held their _Act_ publickly in
Cambridge.--_Mather's Magnalia_, B. 4, pp. 127, 128.
At some times in the universities of England they have no public
_acts_, but give degrees privately and silently.--_Letter of
Increase Mather, in App. to Pres. Woolsey's Hist. Disc._, p. 87.
AD EUNDEM GRADUM. Latin, _to the same degree_. In American
colleges, a Bachelor or Master of one institution was formerly
allowed to take _the same_ degree at another, on payment of a
certain fee. By this he was admitted to all the privileges of a
graduate of his adopted Alma Mater. _Ad eundem gradum_, to the
same degree, were the important words in the formula of admission.
A similar custom prevails at present in the English universities.
Persons who have received a degree in any other college or
university may, upon proper application, be admitted _ad eundem_,
upon payment of the customary fees to the President.--_Laws Union
Coll._, 1807, p. 47.
Persons who have received a degree in any other university or
college may, upon proper application, be admitted _ad eundem_,
upon paying five dollars to the Steward for the President.--_Laws
of the Univ. in Cam., Mass._, 1828.
Persons who have received a degree at any other college may, upon
proper application, be admitted _ad eundem_, upon payment of the
customary fee to the President.--_Laws Mid. Coll._, 1839, p. 24.
The House of Convocation consists both of regents and non-regents,
that is, in brief, all masters of arts not honorary, or _ad
eundems_ from Cambridge or Dublin, and of course graduates of a
higher order.--_Oxford Guide_, 1847, p. xi.
Fortunately some one recollected that the American Minister was a
D.C.L. of Trinity College, Dublin, members of which are admitted
_ad eundem gradum_ at Cambridge.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng.
Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 112.
ADJOURN. At Bowdoin College, _adjourns_ are the occasional
holidays given when a Professor unexpectedly absents himself from
recitation.
ADJOURN. At the University of Vermont, this word as a verb is used
in the same sense as is the verb BOLT at Williams College; e.g.
the students _adjourn_ a recitation, when they leave the
recitation-room _en masse_, despite the Professor.
ADMISSION. The act of admitting a person as a member of a college
or university. The requirements for admission are usually a good
moral character on the part of the candidate, and that he shall be
able to pass a satisfactory examination it certain studies. In
some colleges, students are not allowed to enter until they are of
a specified age.--_Laws Univ. at Cam., Mass._, 1848, p. 12. _Laws
Tale Coll._, 1837, p. 8.
The requisitions for entrance at Harvard College in 1650 are given
in the following extract. "When any scholar is able to read Tully,
or such like classical Latin author, _extempore_, and make and
speak true Latin in verse and prose _suo (ut aiunt) Marte_, and
decline perfectly the paradigms of nouns and verbs in the Greek
tongue, then may he be admitted into the College, nor shall any
claim admission before such qualifications."--_Quincy's Hist.
Harv. Univ._, Vol. I. p. 515.
ADMITTATUR. Latin; literally, _let him be admitted_. In the older
American colleges, the certificate of admission given to a student
upon entering was called an _admittatur_, from the word with which
it began. At Harvard no student was allowed to occupy a room in
the College, to receive the instruction there given, or was
considered a member thereof, until he had been admitted according
to this form.--_Laws Harv. Coll._, 1798.
Referring to Yale College, President Wholsey remarks on this
point: "The earliest known laws of the College belong to the years
1720 and 1726, and are in manuscript; which is explained by the
custom that every Freshman, on his admission, was required to
write off a copy of them for himself, to which the _admittatur_ of
the officers was subscribed."--_Hist. Disc, before Grad. Yale
Coll._, 1850, p. 45.
He travels wearily over in visions the term he is to wait for his
initiation into college ways and his _admittatur_.--_Harvard
Register_, p. 377.
I received my _admittatur_ and returned home, to pass the vacation
and procure the college uniform.--_New England Magazine_, Vol.
III. p. 238.
It was not till six months of further trial, that we received our
_admittatur_, so called, and became matriculated.--_A Tour through
College_, 1832, p. 13.
ADMITTO TE AD GRADUM. _I admit you to a degree_; the first words
in the formula used in conferring the honors of college.
The scholar-dress that once arrayed him,
The charm _Admitto te ad gradum_,
With touch of parchment can refine,
And make the veriest coxcomb shine,
Confer the gift of tongues at once,
And fill with sense the vacant dunce.
_Trumbull's Progress of Dullness_, Ed. 1794, Exeter, p. 12.
ADMONISH. In collegiate affairs, to reprove a member of a college
for a fault, either publicly or privately; the first step of
college discipline. It is followed by _of_ or _against_; as, to
admonish of a fault committed, or against committing a fault.
ADMONITION. Private or public reproof; the first step of college
discipline. In Harvard College, both private and public admonition
subject the offender to deductions from his rank, and the latter
is accompanied in most cases with official notice to his parents
or guardian.--See _Laws Univ. at Cam., Mass._, 1848, p. 21. _Laws
Yale Coll._, 1837, p. 23.
Mr. Flynt, for many years a tutor in Harvard College, thus records
an instance of college punishment for stealing poultry:--"November
4th, 1717. Three scholars were publicly admonished for thievery,
and one degraded below five in his class, because he had been
before publicly admonished for card-playing. They were ordered by
the President into the middle of the Hall (while two others,
concealers of the theft, were ordered to stand up in their places,
and spoken to there). The crime they were charged with was first
declared, and then laid open as against the law of God and the
House, and they were admonished to consider the nature and
tendency of it, with its aggravations; and all, with them, were
warned to take heed and regulate themselves, so that they might
not be in danger of so doing for the future; and those who
consented to the theft were admonished to beware, lest God tear
them in pieces, according to the text. They were then fined, and
ordered to make restitution twofold for each theft."--_Quincy's
Hist. Harv. Univ._, Vol. I. p. 443.
ADOPTED SON. Said of a student in reference to the college of
which he is or was a member, the college being styled his _alma
mater_.
There is something in the affection of our Alma Mater which
changes the nature of her _adopted sons_; and let them come from
wherever they may, she soon alters them and makes it evident that
they belong to the same brood.--_Harvard Register_, p. 377.
ADVANCE. The lesson which a student prepares for the first time is
called _the advance_, in contradistinction to _the review_.
Even to save him from perdition,
He cannot get "_the advance_," forgets "_the review_."
_Childe Harvard_, p. 13.
ÆGROTAL. Latin, _ægrotus_, sick. A certificate of illness. Used
in the Univ. of Cam., Eng.
A lucky thought; he will get an "_ægrotal_," or medical
certificate of illness.--_Household Words_, Vol. II. p. 162.
ÆGROTAT. Latin; literally, _he is sick_. In the English
universities, a certificate from a doctor or surgeon, to the
effect that a student has been prevented by illness from attending
to his college duties, "though, commonly," says the Gradus ad
Cantabrigiam, "the real complaint is much more serious; viz.
indisposition of the mind! _ægrotat_ animo magis quam corpore."
This state is technically called _ægritude_, and the person thus
affected is said to be _æger_.--_The Etonian_, Vol. II. pp. 386,
387.
To prove sickness nothing more is necessary than to send to some
medical man for a pill and a draught, and a little bit of paper
with _ægrotat_ on it, and the doctor's signature. Some men let
themselves down off their horses, and send for an _ægrotat_ on
the score of a fall.--_Westminster Rev._, Am. Ed., Vol. XXXV. p.
235.
During this term I attended another course of Aristotle lectures,
--but not with any express view to the May examination, which I
had no intention of going in to, if it could be helped, and which
I eventually escaped by an _ægrotat_ from my
physician.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p.
198.
Mr. John Trumbull well describes this state of indisposition in
his Progress of Dullness:--
"Then every book, which ought to please,
Stirs up the seeds of dire disease;
Greek spoils his eyes, the print's so fine,
Grown dim with study, and with wine;
Of Tully's Latin much afraid,
Each page he calls the doctor's aid;
While geometry, with lines so crooked,
Sprains all his wits to overlook it.
His sickness puts on every name,
Its cause and uses still the same;
'Tis toothache, colic, gout, or stone,
With phases various as the moon,
But tho' thro' all the body spread,
Still makes its cap'tal seat, the head.
In all diseases, 'tis expected,
The weakest parts be most infected."
Ed. 1794, Part I. p. 8.
ÆGROTAT DEGREE. One who is sick or so indisposed that he cannot
attend the Senate-House examination, nor consequently acquire any
honor, takes what is termed an _Ægrotat degree_.--_Alma Mater_,
Vol. II. p. 105.
ALMA MATER, _pl._ ALMÆ MATRES. Fostering mother; a college or
seminary where one is educated. The title was originally given to
Oxford and Cambridge, by such as had received their education in
either university.
It must give pleasure to the alumni of the College to hear of his
good name, as he [Benjamin Woodbridge] was the eldest son of our
_alma mater_.--_Peirce's Hist. Harv. Univ._, App., p. 57.
I see the truths I have uttered, in relation to our _Almæ
Matres_, assented to by sundry of their
children.--_Terræ-Filius_, Oxford, p. 41.
ALUMNI, SOCIETY OF. An association composed of the graduates of a
particular college. The object of societies of this nature is
stated in the following extract from President Hopkins's Address
before the Society of Alumni of Williams College, Aug. 16, 1843.
"So far as I know, the Society of the Alumni of Williams College
was the first association of the kind in this country, certainly
the first which acted efficiently, and called forth literary
addresses. It was formed September 5, 1821, and the preamble to
the constitution then adopted was as follows: 'For the promotion
of literature and good fellowship among ourselves, and the better
to advance the reputation and interests of our Alma Mater, we the
subscribers, graduates of Williams College, form ourselves into a
Society.' The first president was Dr. Asa Burbank. The first
orator elected was the Hon. Elijah Hunt Mills, a distinguished
Senator of the United States. That appointment was not fulfilled.
The first oration was delivered in 1823, by the Rev. Dr.
Woodbridge, now of Hadley, and was well worthy of the occasion;
and since that time the annual oration before the Alumni has
seldom failed.... Since this Society was formed, the example has
been followed in other institutions, and bids fair to extend to
them all. Last year, for the first time, the voice of an Alumnus
orator was heard at Harvard and at Yale; and one of these
associations, I know, sprung directly from ours. It is but three
years since a venerable man attended the meeting of our Alumni,
one of those that have been so full of interest, and he said he
should go directly home and have such an association formed at the
Commencement of his Alma Mater, then about to occur. He did so.
That association was formed, and the last year the voice of one of
the first scholars and jurists in the nation was heard before
them. The present year the Alumni of Dartmouth were addressed for
the first time, and the doctrine of Progress was illustrated by
the distinguished speaker in more senses than one.[01] Who can
tell how great the influence of such associations may become in
cherishing kind feeling, in fostering literature, in calling out
talent, in leading men to act, not selfishly, but more efficiently
for the general cause through particular institutions?"--_Pres.
Hopkins's Miscellaneous Essays and Discourses_, pp. 275-277.
To the same effect also, Mr. Chief Justice Story, who, in his
Discourse before the Society of the Alumni of Harvard University,
Aug. 23, 1842, says: "We meet to celebrate the first anniversary
of the society of all the Alumni of Harvard. We meet without any
distinction of sect or party, or of rank or profession, in church
or in state, in literature or in science.... Our fellowship is
designed to be--as it should be--of the most liberal and
comprehensive character, conceived in the spirit of catholic
benevolence, asking no creed but the love of letters, seeking no
end but the encouragement of learning, and imposing no conditions,
which say lead to jealousy or ambitious strife. In short, we meet
for peace and for union; to devote one day in the year to
academical intercourse and the amenities of scholars."--p. 4.
An Alumni society was formed at Columbia College in the year 1829,
and at Rutgers College in 1837. There are also societies of this
nature at the College of New Jersey, Princeton; University of
Virginia, Charlottesville; and at Columbian College, Washington.
ALUMNUS, _pl._ ALUMNI. Latin, from _alo_, to nourish. A pupil; one
educated at a seminary or college is called an _alumnus_ of that
institution.
A.M. An abbreviation for _Artium Magister_, Master of Arts. The
second degree given by universities and colleges. It is usually
written M.A., q.v.
ANALYSIS. In the following passage, the word _analysis_ is used as
a verb; the meaning being directly derived from that of the noun
of the same orthography.
If any resident Bachelor, Senior, or Junior Sophister shall
neglect to _analysis_ in his course, he shall be punished not
exceeding ten shillings.--_Peirce's Hist. Harv. Univ._, App., p.
129.
ANNARUGIANS. At Centre College, Kentucky, is a society called the
_Annarugians_, "composed," says a correspondent "of the wildest of
the College boys, who, in the most fantastic disguises, are always
on hand when a wedding is to take place, and join in a most
tremendous Charivari, nor can they be forced to retreat until they
have received a due proportion of the sumptuous feast prepared."
APOSTLES. At Cambridge, England, the last twelve on the list of
Bachelors of Arts; a degree lower than the [Greek: oi polloi]
"Scape-goats of literature, who have at length scrambled through
the pales and discipline of the Senate-House, without being
_plucked_, and miraculously obtained the title of A.B."--_Gradus
ad Cantab._
At Columbian College, D.C., the members of the Faculty are called
after the names of the _Apostles_.
APPLICANT. A diligent student. "This word," says Mr. Pickering, in
his Vocabulary, "has been much used at our colleges. The English
have the verb _to apply_, but the noun _applicant_, in this sense,
does not appear to be in use among them. The only Dictionary in
which I have found it with this meaning is Entick's, in which it
is given under the word _applier_. Mr. Todd has the term
_applicant_, but it is only in the sense of 'he who applies for
anything.' An American reviewer, in his remarks on Mr. Webster's
Dictionary, takes notice of the word, observing, that it 'is a
mean word'; and then adds, that 'Mr. Webster has not explained it
in the most common sense, a _hard student_.'--_Monthly Anthology_,
Vol. VII. p. 263. A correspondent observes: 'The utmost that can
be said of this word among the English is, that perhaps it is
occasionally used in conversation; at least, to signify one who
asks (or applies) for something.'" At present the word _applicant_
is never used in the sense of a diligent student, the common
signification being that given by Mr. Webster, "One who applies;
one who makes request; a petitioner."
APPOINTEE. One who receives an appointment at a college exhibition
or commencement.
The _appointees_ are writing their pieces.--_Scenes and Characters
in College_, New Haven, 1847, p. 193.
To the gratified _appointee_,--if his ambition for the honor has
the intensity it has in some bosoms,--the day is the proudest he
will ever see.--_Ibid._, p. 194.
I suspect that a man in the first class of the "Poll" has usually
read mathematics to more profit than many of the "_appointees_,"
even of the "oration men" at Yale.--_Bristed's Five Years in an
Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 382.
He hears it said all about him that the College _appointees_ are
for the most part poor dull fellows.--_Ibid._, p. 389.
APPOINTMENT. In many American colleges, students to whom are
assigned a part in the exercises of an exhibition or commencement,
are said to receive an _appointment_. Appointments are given as a
reward for superiority in scholarship.
As it regards college, the object of _appointments_ is to incite
to study, and promote good scholarship.--_Scenes and Characters in
College_, New Haven, 1847, p. 69.
If e'er ye would take an "_appointment_" young man,
Beware o' the "blade" and "fine fellow," young man!
_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XV. p. 210.
Some have crammed for _appointments_, and some for degrees.
_Presentation Day Songs_, Yale Coll., June 14, 1854.
See JUNIOR APPOINTMENTS.
APPROBAMUS. Latin; _we approve_. A certificate, given to a
student, testifying of his fitness for the performance of certain
duties.
In an account of the exercises at Dartmouth College during the
Commencement season in 1774, Dr. Belknap makes use of this word in
the following connection: "I attended, with several others, the
examination of Joseph Johnson, an Indian, educated in this school,
who, with the rest of the New England Indians, are about moving up
into the country of the Six Nations, where they have a tract of
land fifteen miles square given them. He appeared to be an
ingenious, sensible, serious young man; and we gave him an
_approbamus_, of which there is a copy on the next page. After
which, at three P.M., he preached in the college hall, and a
collection of twenty-seven dollars and a half was made for him.
The auditors were agreeably entertained.
"The _approbamus_ is as follows."--_Life of Jeremy Belknap, D.D._,
pp. 71, 72.
APPROBATE. To express approbation of; to manifest a liking, or
degree of satisfaction.--_Webster_.
The cause of this battle every man did allow and
_approbate_.--_Hall, Henry VII., Richardson's Dict._
"This word," says Mr. Pickering, "was formerly much used at our
colleges instead of the old English verb _approve_. The students
used to speak of having their performances _approbated_ by the
instructors. It is also now in common use with our clergy as a
sort of technical term, to denote a person who is licensed to
preach; they would say, such a one is _approbated_, that is,
licensed to preach. It is also common in New England to say of a
person who is licensed by the county courts to sell spirituous
liquors, or to keep a public house, that he is approbated; and the
term is adopted in the law of Massachusetts on this subject." The
word is obsolete in England, is obsolescent at our colleges, and
is very seldom heard in the other senses given above.
By the twelfth statute, a student incurs ... no penalty by
declaiming or attempting to declaim without having his piece
previously _approbated_.--_MS. Note to Laws of Harvard College_,
1798.
Observe their faces as they enter, and you will perceive some
shades there, which, if they are _approbated_ and admitted, will
be gone when they come out.--_Scenes and Characters in College_,
New Haven, 1847, p. 18.
How often does the professor whose duty it is to criticise and
_approbate_ the pieces for this exhibition wish they were better!
--_Ibid._, p. 195.
I was _approbated_ by the Boston Association, I suspect, as a
person well known, but known as an anomaly, and admitted in
charity.--_Memorial of John S. Popkin, D.D._, p. lxxxv.
ASSES' BRIDGE. The fifth proposition of the first book of Euclid
is called the _Asses' Bridge_, or rather "Pons Asinorum," from the
difficulty with which many get over it.
The _Asses' Bridge_ in Euclid is not more difficult to be got
over, nor the logarithms of Napier so hard to be unravelled, as
many of Hoyle's Cases and Propositions.--_The Connoisseur_, No.
LX.
After Mr. Brown had passed us over the "_Asses' Bridge_," without
any serious accident, and conducted us a few steps further into
the first book, he dismissed us with many compliments.--_Alma
Mater_, Vol. I. p. 126.
I don't believe he passed the _Pons Asinorum_ without many a halt
and a stumble.--_Ibid._, Vol. I. p. 146.
ASSESSOR. In the English universities, an officer specially
appointed to assist the Vice-Chancellor in his court.--_Cam. Cal._
AUCTION. At Harvard College, it was until within a few years
customary for the members of the Senior Class, previously to
leaving college, to bring together in some convenient room all the
books, furniture, and movables of any kind which they wished to
dispose of, and put them up at public auction. Everything offered
was either sold, or, if no bidders could be obtained, given away.
AUDIT. In the University of Cambridge, England, a meeting of the
Master and Fellows to examine or _audit_ the college accounts.
This is succeeded by a feast, on which occasion is broached the
very best ale, for which reason ale of this character is called
"audit ale."--_Grad. ad Cantab._
This use of the word thirst made me drink an extra bumper of
"_Audit_" that very day at dinner.--_Alma Mater_, Vol. I. p. 3.
After a few draughts of the _Audit_, the company
disperse.--_Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 161.
AUTHORITY. "This word," says Mr. Pickering, in his Vocabulary, "is
used in some of the States, in speaking collectively of the
Professors, &c. of our colleges, to whom the _government_ of these
institutions is intrusted."
Every Freshman shall be obliged to do any proper errand or message
for the _Authority_ of the College.--_Laws Middlebury Coll._,
1804, p. 6.
AUTOGRAPH BOOK. It is customary at Yale College for each member of
the Senior Class, before the close of his collegiate life, to
obtain, in a book prepared for that purpose, the signatures of the
President, Professors, Tutors, and of all his classmates, with
anything else which they may choose to insert. Opposite the
autographs of the college officers are placed engravings of them,
so far as they are obtainable; and the whole, bound according to
the fancy of each, forms a most valuable collection of agreeable
mementos.
When news of his death reached me. I turned to my _book of
classmate autographs_, to see what he had written there, and to
read a name unusually dear.--_Scenes and Characters in College_,
New Haven, 1847, p. 201.
AVERAGE BOOK. At Harvard College, a book in which the marks
received by each student, for the proper performance of his
college duties, are entered; also the deductions from his rank
resulting from misconduct. These unequal data are then arranged in
a mean proportion, and the result signifies the standing which the
student has held for a given period.
In vain the Prex's grave rebuke,
Deductions from the _average book_.
_MS. Poem_, W.F. Allen, 1848.
_B_.
B.A. An abbreviation of _Baccalaureus Artium_, Bachelor of Arts.
The first degree taken by a student at a college or university.
Sometimes written A.B., which is in accordance with the proper
Latin arrangement. In American colleges this degree is conferred
in course on each member of the Senior Class in good standing. In
the English universities, it is given to the candidate who has
been resident at least half of each of ten terms, i.e. during a
certain portion of a period extending over three and a third
years, and who has passed the University examinations.
The method of conferring the degree of B.A. at Trinity College,
Hartford, is peculiar. The President takes the hands of each
candidate in his own as he confers the degree. He also passes to
the candidate a book containing the College Statutes, which the
candidate holds in his right hand during the performance of a part
of the ceremony.
The initials of English academical titles always correspond to the
_English_, not to the Latin of the titles, _B.A._, M.A., D.D.,
D.C.L., &c.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p.
13.
See BACHELOR.
BACCALAUREATE. The degree of Bachelor of Arts; the first or lowest
degree. In American colleges, this degree is conferred in course
on each member of the Senior Class in good standing. In Oxford and
Cambridge it is attainable in two different ways;--1. By
examination, to which those students alone are admissible who have
pursued the prescribed course of study for the space of three
years. 2. By extraordinary diploma, granted to individuals wholly
unconnected with the University. The former class are styled
Baccalaurei Formati, the latter Baccalaurei Currentes. In France
the degree of Baccalaureat (Baccalaureus Literarum) is conferred
indiscriminately upon such natives or foreigners and after a
strict examination in the classics, mathematics, and philosophy,
are declared to be qualified. In the German universities, the
title "Doctor Philosophiæ" has long been substituted for
Baccalaureus Artium or Literarum. In the Middle Ages, the term
Baccalaureus was applied to an inferior order of knights, who came
into the field unattended by vassals; from them it was transferred
to the lowest class of ecclesiastics; and thence again, by Pope
Gregory the Ninth to the universities. In reference to the
derivation of this word, the military classes maintain that it is
either derived from the _baculus_ or staff with which knights were
usually invested, or from _bas chevalier_, an inferior kind of
knight; the literary classes, with more plausibility, perhaps,
trace its origin to the custom which prevailed universally among
the Greeks and Romans, and which was followed even in Italy till
the thirteenth century, of crowning distinguished individuals with
laurel; hence the recipient of this honor was style Baccalaureus,
quasi _baccis laureis_ donatus.--_Brande's Dictionary_.
The subjoined passage, although it may not place the subject in
any clearer light, will show the difference of opinion which
exists in reference to the derivation of this work. Speaking of
the exercises of Commencement at Cambridge Mass., in the early
days of Harvard College, the writer says "But the main exercises
were disputations upon questions wherein the respondents first
made their Theses: For according to Vossius, the very essence of
the Baccalaureat seems to lye in the thing: Baccalaureus being but
a name corrupted of Batualius, which Batualius (as well as the
French Bataile [Bataille]) comes à Batuendo, a business that
carries beating in it: So that, Batualii fuerunt vocati, quia jam
quasi _batuissent_ cum adversario, ac manus conseruissent; hoc
est, publice disputassent, atque ita peritiæ suæ specimen
dedissent."--_Mather's Magnalia_, B. IV. p. 128.
The Seniors will be examined for the _Baccalaureate_, four weeks
before Commencement, by a committee, in connection with the
Faculty.--_Cal. Wesleyan Univ._, 1849, p. 22.
BACHELOR. A person who has taken the first degree in the liberal
arts and sciences, at a college or university. This degree, or
honor, is called the _Baccalaureate_. This title is given also to
such as take the first degree in divinity, law, or physic, in
certain European universities. The word appears in various forms
in different languages. The following are taken from _Webster's
Unabridged Dictionary_. "French, _bachelier_; Spanish,
_bachiller_, a bachelor of arts and a babbler; Portuguese,
_bacharel_, id., and _bacello_, a shoot or twig of the vine;
Italian, _baccelliere_, a bachelor of arts; _bacchio_, a staff;
_bachetta_, a rod; Latin, _bacillus_, a stick, that is, a shoot;
French, _bachelette_, a damsel, or young woman; Scotch, _baich_, a
child; Welsh, _bacgen_, a boy, a child; _bacgenes_, a young girl,
from _bac_, small. This word has its origin in the name of a
child, or young person of either sex, whence the sense of
_babbling_ in the Spanish. Or both senses are rather from
shooting, protruding."
Of the various etymologies ascribed to the term _Bachelor_, "the
true one, and the most flattering," says the Gradus ad
Cantabrigiam, "seems to be _bacca laurus_. Those who either are,
or expect to be, honored with the title of _Bachelor of Arts_,
will hear with exultation, that they are then 'considered as the
budding flowers of the University; as the small _pillula_, or
_bacca_, of the _laurel_ indicates the flowering of that tree,
which is so generally used in the crowns of those who have
deserved well, both of the military states, and of the republic of
learning.'--_Carter's History of Cambridge, [Eng.]_, 1753."
BACHELOR FELLOW. A Bachelor of Arts who is maintained on a
fellowship.
BACHELOR SCHOLAR. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., a B.A. who
remains in residence after taking his degree, for the purpose of
reading for a fellowship or acting as private tutor. He is always
noted for superiority in scholarship.
Bristed refers to the bachelor scholars in the annexed extract.
"Along the wall you see two tables, which, though less carefully
provided than the Fellows', are still served with tolerable
decency and go through a regular second course instead of the
'sizings.' The occupants of the upper or inner table are men
apparently from twenty-two to twenty-six years of age, and wear
black gowns with two strings hanging loose in front. If this table
has less state than the adjoining one of the Fellows, it has more
mirth and brilliancy; many a good joke seems to be going the
rounds. These are the Bachelors, most of them Scholars reading for
Fellowships, and nearly all of them private tutors. Although
Bachelors in Arts, they are considered, both as respects the
College and the University, to be _in statu pupillari_ until they
become M.A.'s. They pay a small sum in fees nominally for tuition,
and are liable to the authority of that mighty man, the Proctor."
--_Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 20.
BACHELORSHIP. The state of one who has taken his first degree in a
university or college.--_Webster_.
BACK-LESSON. A lesson which has not been learned or recited; a
lesson which has been omitted.
In a moment you may see the yard covered with hurrying groups,
some just released from metaphysics or the blackboard, and some
just arisen from their beds where they have indulged in the luxury
of sleeping over,--a luxury, however, which is sadly diminished by
the anticipated necessity of making up _back-lessons_.--_Harv.
Reg._, p. 202.
BALBUS. At Yale College, this term is applied to Arnold's Latin
Prose Composition, from the fact of its so frequent occurrence in
that work. If a student wishes to inform his fellow-student that
he is engaged on Latin Prose Composition, he says he is studying
_Balbus_. In the first example of this book, the first sentence
reads, "I and Balbus lifted up our hands," and the name Balbus
appears in almost every exercise.
BALL UP. At Middlebury College, to fail at recitation or
examination.
BANDS. Linen ornaments, worn by professors and clergymen when
officiating; also by judges, barristers, &c., in court. They form
a distinguishing mark in the costume of the proctors of the
English universities, and at Cambridge, the questionists, on
admission to their degrees, are by the statutes obliged to appear
in them.--_Grad. ad Cantab._
BANGER. A club-like cane or stick; a bludgeon. This word is one of
the Yale vocables.
The Freshman reluctantly turned the key,
Expecting a Sophomore gang to see,
Who, with faces masked and _bangers_ stout,
Had come resolved to smoke him out.
_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XX. p. 75.
BARBER. In the English universities, the college barber is often
employed by the students to write out or translate the impositions
incurred by them. Those who by this means get rid of their
impositions are said to _barberize_ them.
So bad was the hand which poor Jenkinson wrote, that the many
impositions which he incurred would have kept him hard at work all
day long; so he _barberized_ them, that is, handed them over to
the college barber, who had always some poor scholars in his pay.
This practice of barberizing is not uncommon among a certain class
of men.--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 155.
BARNEY. At Harvard College, about the year 1810, this word was
used to designate a bad recitation. To _barney_ was to recite
badly.
BARNWELL. At Cambridge, Eng., a place of resort for characters of
bad report.
One of the most "civilized" undertook to banter me on my
non-appearance in the classic regions of _Barnwell_.--_Bristed's
Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 31.
BARRING-OUT SPREE. At Princeton College, when the students find
the North College clear of Tutors, which is about once a year,
they bar up the entrance, get access to the bell, and ring it.
In the "Life of Edward Baines, late M.P. for the Borough of
Leeds," is an account of a _barring-out_, as managed at the
grammar school at Preston, England. It is related in Dickens's
Household Words to this effect. "His master was pompous and
ignorant, and smote his pupils liberally with cane and tongue. It
is not surprising that the lads learnt as much from the spirit of
their master as from his preceptions and that one of those
juvenile rebellions, better known as old than at present as a
'_barring-out_,' was attempted. The doors of the school, the
biographer narrates, were fastened with huge nails, and one of the
younger lads was let out to obtain supplies of food for the
garrison. The rebellion having lasted two or three days, the
mayor, town-clerk, and officers were sent for to intimidate the
offenders. Young Baines, on the part of the besieged, answered the
magisterial summons to surrender, by declaring that they would
never give in, unless assured of full pardon and a certain length
of holidays. With much good sense, the mayor gave them till the
evening to consider; and on his second visit the doors were found
open, the garrison having fled to the woods of Penwortham. They
regained their respective homes under the cover of night, and some
humane interposition averted the punishment they had
deserved."-- Am. Ed. Vol. III. p. 415.
BATTEL. To stand indebted on the college books at Oxford for
provisions and drink from the buttery.
Eat my commons with a good stomach, and _battled_ with discretion.
--_Puritan_, Malone's Suppl. 2, p. 543.
Many men "_battel_" at the rate of a guinea a week. Wealthier men,
more expensive men, and more careless men, often "_battelled_"
much higher.--_De Quincey's Life and Manners_, p. 274.
Cotgrave says, "To _battle_ (as scholars do in Oxford) être
debteur an collège pour ses vivres." He adds, "Mot usé seulement
des jeunes écoliers de l'université d'Oxford."