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From:wsmith@wordsmith.org
To:linguaphile@wordsmith.org
Subject:A.Word.A.Day--aegrotat
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Date:Fri, 1 Sep 2000 17:26:00 -0700 (PDT)

aegrotat (EE-gro-tat, ee-GRO-tat) noun

An unclassified degree granted a university student who has fulfilled
all requirements for graduation but was prevented by illness from
attending the final examinations.

[From Latin aegrotat literally, he is sick, equivalent to aegrot(us) sick
(aeg(e)r sick + -otus adjectival suffix) + -at 3rd singular ending.]

"Powell got a first in the exams he sat in the nursing home - his
classics tripos finals. If he had not been able to sit them there, he
would only have got an aegrotat degree - which might well have affected
his future."
Eric James, Deep rivers, indeed, New Statesman, Apr 24, 1998.

This week's theme: words from the world of learning and the learned.

.............................................................................
Of life's two chief prizes, beauty and truth, I found the first in a loving
heart and the second in a laborer's hand. -Kahlil Gibran, mystic, poet,
dramatist, and artist (1883-1931)

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Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/aegrotat.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/aegrotat.ram