Re:Nalanda: The university that changed the world
by pradn on Monday March 06, 2023 @08:14PM
(#35050217)
Wiktionary states the following for "baccalaureate":
From French baccalauréat, from Medieval Latin baccalaureatus, from Latin baccalaureus, an alteration of baccalārius (“young man aspiring to knighthood”), to resemble bacca lauri (“laurel berry”) (the ancient symbol of victory). Compare bachelor.
For "baccalaureus":
Alteration of baccalārius, influenced (by folk etymology) by Latin bacca ("berry") and laurea ("laurel") due to the fact that graduates wore laurel crowns filled with berries in order to represent the fruit of their study. Perhaps of Celtic origin, from Gaulish *bakalakos, itself borrowed from Latin baculum (“stick”).[1]
No Arabic roots here.
Re:Nalanda: The university that changed the world
by MichaelZuo on Monday March 06, 2023 @09:27PM
(#35050768)
Folks on HN sometimes have very unusual beliefs but that was definitely eyebrow raising.
What evidence do you have for this extraordinary claim?
> Or the fact that ceremonial graduation garb in the EU and US, from the robes to the caps, is also based in Arab tradition.
This is also an unfounded claim. University garb is derived from monstic order garb, which in turn is from early Nicean period monk tradition. This long predates your source.