What does dissertation mean?
Word: Dissertation
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Dissertation means a long, detailed piece of writing on one subject, based on the writer's own study of it.
Synonyms: treatise, paper
How do you spell dissertation?
Syllables: dis - ser - ta - tion
Tricky part: There is a double s in the middle. Students write one s, or start with des, as if it were about dessert.
Watch out for: dessertation, dissertasion, disertation
Memory tip: Do not let dessert sneak in: a dissertation is handed in at a university, not served after dinner, and it opens with dis.
Dissertation in a sentence
Example 1: My cousin spent a whole year writing her dissertation on monsoon rainfall in Kerala.
Example 2: The professor asked each student to choose a dissertation topic by October.
Example 3: His dissertation on bird migration ran to more than two hundred pages.
Fun Fact
A doctoral dissertation is often defended in a viva voce, a Latin phrase meaning with the living voice, where examiners question the student face to face.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) laboratory
b) scholarship
c) research
d) dissirtation
Show answer
d) dissirtation. The second syllable is ser, spelt er as in service.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
dissert_ti_n
a) a, a
b) e, o
c) i, o
d) a, o
Show answer
d) a, o. The word ends like station and nation: -ation.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word:
dissertation
a) speech
b) syllabus
c) diploma
d) thesis
Show answer
d) thesis. A thesis is also a long piece of writing done for a university degree.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Who normally writes a dissertation?
a) a reporter covering a cricket match
b) a student finishing a master's degree
c) a Class 6 pupil doing homework
d) a teacher setting a unit test
Show answer
b) a student finishing a master's degree
2. Which of these usually comes at the start of a dissertation?
a) a list of the writer's hobbies
b) a short summary of the whole study
c) the examiners' final marks
d) a letter asking for a job
Show answer
b) a short summary of the whole study
