magna cum laudeadv.n.adj.
/ˌmaɡnə kʊm ˈlaʊdeɪ/, /ˌmaɡnə kʊm ˈlɔːdi/, /ˌmaɡnɑː kʊm ˈlaʊdeɪ/, /ˌmaɡnə kʌm ˈlaʊdi/, U.S. /ˌmæɡnə kəm ˈlaʊdə/, /ˌmæɡnə kəm ˈlaʊdi/ Chiefly North American.
With great distinction: used with reference to a degree, diploma, etc., of a higher standard than the average (though not the highest). Also in extended use, and as n. and adj.: (designating) such a degree or diploma. Cf. summa cum laude adv., n., and adj.
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society > education > educational administration > examination > [adjective] > mark
fair1850
magna cum laude1856
summa cum laude1896
starred1912
upper1982
1851 B. H. Hall Coll. College Words 263 At Harvard College..the different degrees of excellence are expressed in the diploma by the words, cum laude, cum magna laude, cum summa laude.]
1856 Amer. Jrnl. Educ. July 91 We give the titles, Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, and Summa Cum Laude.
1856 Amer. Jrnl. Educ. July 92 There were ten or a dozen examined, some of whom received the degree of Summa Cum Laude, some that of Magna Cum Laude, and some merely that of Cum Laude.
1880 Harvard Reg. Jan. 2/2 The degree magna cum laude..[is to be given] to those attaining eighty per cent, or receiving honors.
1882 M. C. Thomas Let. 25 Nov. in Making of Feminist (1979) 261 There are thee knows four degrees—‘rite’, ‘cum laude’, ‘magna cum laude’, ‘summa cum laude’... ‘Magna cum laude’ is rarely given.
1900 Dial. Notes 2 13 A few words or phrases of direct Latin importation used at some of the older institutions...more commonly cum laude, magna or summa cum laude for the degree of honor attained in studies.
1933 E. Balmer & P. Wylie When Worlds Collide i. 22 He was graduated from Harvard with a magna cum laude.
1963 M. McCarthy Group v. 102 He was angry because Helena had failed to get magna cum laude, when a lot of the Jewish girls had.
1973 Physics Bull. Feb. 116/3 He was awarded the degree of PhD ‘magna cum laude’.
1973 E. Pace Any War will Do (1974) i. 47 The minute I heard poor Ollie shout, I knew you had passed. And when the counter splintered, you got magna cum laude.
1993 P. Ouellette Deus Machine xiii. 165 He had graduated magna cum laude in mathematics from Berkeley.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.n.adj.1856