PhD

abbreviation or noun

variants or Ph.D.
plural PhDs or Ph.D.s
: the academic degree, title, or rank of doctor of philosophy
He was awarded a PhD in economics.
Jane Smith, Ph.D.
also : a person who has earned the academic degree of doctor of philosophy
The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Watson School of Biological Sciences graduated its first PhDs (14 of them) in June 2004 … Horace Freeland Judson

Examples of PhD in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
This approach was developed in 2003 by psychotherapist David Grand, PhD, who was originally trained in EMDR therapy (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing). Kathleen Ferraro, SELF, 4 June 2025 Shams, who is from Iran and pursuing a PhD in biomedical engineering at UConn, received a warning from TSA after arguing with an airline staff member. Emilia Otte, Hartford Courant, 4 June 2025 Getting through the airport also poses an exposure risk, says Peter Hotez MD, PhD, a professor and co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Tom Gavin, EverydayHealth.com, 4 June 2025 Bhandari completed his PhD in Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon and went on to become one of the first executives to hold the Chief Data Officer title, dating back to his appointment to the role in 2006 at Medco. Randy Bean, Forbes.com, 25 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for PhD

Word History

Etymology

New Latin philosophiae doctor

First Known Use

1839, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of PhD was in 1839

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Cite this Entry

“PhD.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/PhD. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.

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