Diploma

Sheepskin diploma from Mexico City College, 1948 (in Latin)
Sheepskin diploma from Mexico City College, 1948 (in Latin)

A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies.[1] Historically, it has also referred to a charter or official document of diplomacy.[2][3]

The diploma (as a document certifying a qualification) may also be called a testamur, Latin for "we testify" or "certify" (testari), so called from the word with which the certificate begins;[4] this is commonly used in Australia to refer to the document certifying the award of a degree.[5][6][7] Alternatively, this document can simply be referred to as a degree certificate or graduation certificate, or as a parchment.[8] The certificate that a Nobel laureate receives is also called a diploma.

The term diploma is also used in some historical contexts, to refer to documents signed by a monarch affirming a grant or tenure of specified land and its conditions (see Anglo-Saxon charters and diplomatics).

  1. ^ "diploma". Collinsdictionary.com. Collins. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  2. ^ "Diploma". Oxford Living Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on January 31, 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  3. ^ "Diplomacy". Oxford Living Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on September 25, 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  4. ^ "Testamur". Collins Dictionary. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  5. ^ "Testamur (degree certificates)". Monash University. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  6. ^ "My Graduation Certificate". University of Melbourne. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  7. ^ "Testamur (certificate)". University of Wollongong. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  8. ^ "Parchment". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 18 January 2016.