summa cum laudeadv.n.adj.

Etymology: < classical Latin summā cum laudē with highest praise, in post-classical Latin also with specific reference to academic achievement (see note) < summā , ablative feminine singular of summus highest (see sum n.¹) + cum with (see cum prep.) + laudē , ablative of laus praise (see laud n.¹). Compare slightly later magna cum laude adv. and later cum laude adv.Used in Latin documents issued by German and Dutch universities from the 16th cent. onwards (Heidelberg 1531 or earlier; a rare British example 1544), often with reference to the satisfaction of requirements for a doctorate or master's degree, the superlative being used ceremoniously rather than to contrast with lower levels of attainment. By 1783, however, a decree of the senate of the University of Groningen gave official status to the use of cum laude and summa cum laude in doctoral diplomas to indicate different levels of merit beyond the basic degree requirements, remarking that a similar practice was already current at certain other universities, and the use of similar phrases to specify further levels of merit (e.g., egregio et summa cum laude and magna cum laude) is called for in some 19th-century German academic regulations.