Diploma

In June many students receive their diploma, a word ultimately derived from a Greek word meaning “doubling”, which was used for a paper folded in half. By the time it came into English in the 1600s, it was being used for official documents conferring a privilege. Diplomats are called that because originally they had one of these “diplomas” conferring official status on them. But very soon thereafter, “diploma” came to mean a document conferring a degree.