Plural of doctorate; the highest academic degrees awarded by universities, typically requiring extensive research and a dissertation.
From 'doctorate' (from Medieval Latin 'doctoratus,' the status of being a 'doctor'), pluralized with '-s.' The medieval church awarded the first doctorates in theology.
Doctorates were originally only available in three subjects—theology, law, and medicine—because these were considered the three 'higher faculties' in medieval universities; today there are doctorates in hundreds of fields.
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