CJK Compatibility Ideograph FA01

No: 度 is a compatibility form of 度.

It has the same everyday meanings as 度, including degree, extent, standard, manner, and measurement. The surrounding word determines which sense fits; the extra code point does not add a new everyday definition.

The character is much older than computer encoding. Inscriptions on oracle bones—bones and shells used for divination—and bronze show early forms of 度, followed by Qin-era slips and seal script, an old formal writing style. Early explanations connect it with measuring length and setting standards. Its meaning family remains recognizable across Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, though readings differ by language.

Why would software keep both forms?

To preserve a source distinction when converting older text.

The source mapping associates 度 with Korean K0-7674 and maps it to 度, the ordinary unified form. The extra code point records where the character came from, not a separate word.

Unicode text normalization, which puts equivalent text into consistent forms, converts 度 to 度 in all four standard forms. If an archive must retain the original source code point, keep the text before normalization.