What it means
درجه (daraje) is the Persian word for “degree,” borrowed from Arabic درجة (daraja), which originally meant a step or rung on a ladder and extended to mean a level, rank, or grade. In Persian it covers three main uses: temperature (سی درجه, si daraje, “thirty degrees”), angle in geometry (زاویه نود درجه, zâviye-ye navad daraje, “a ninety-degree angle”), and academic qualification (درجه دکترا, daraje-ye doktorâ, “doctoral degree”). The common thread is the idea of a measurable step or level on a scale. A close synonym in the academic sense is مدرک (madrak, “qualification, credential”).
How to use it
- امروز سیوپنج درجه گرمه. (Emruz si-o-panj daraje garme.) “It is thirty-five degrees today.”
- زاویه نود درجهست. (Zâviye navad daraje-ast.) “The angle is ninety degrees.”
- درجه دکتراشو گرفت. (Daraje-ye doktorâsho gereft.) “He received his doctoral degree.”
- آب در صد درجه میجوشه. (Ab dar sad daraje mijushe.) “Water boils at one hundred degrees.”
Cultural note
Iran uses the Celsius scale, so when Iranians say چند درجهست (chand daraje-ast, “how many degrees is it?”) they mean Celsius by default. Academic degrees are taken very seriously in Iranian culture, and attaching a درجه such as دکترا or کارشناسی ارشد (master’s) to one’s name carries significant social prestige. The word’s Arabic origin reflects the centuries of Arabic scholarly influence on Persian academic and scientific vocabulary.