GRADUATE Definition & Meaning

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graduate

[ noun adjective graj-oo-it, -eyt; verb graj-oo-eyt ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a person who has received a degree or diploma on completing a course of study, as in a university, college, or school.
a student who holds the bachelor's or the first professional degree and is studying for an advanced degree.
a graduated cylinder, used for measuring.

adjective

of, relating to, or involved in academic study beyond the first or bachelor's degree:
graduate courses in business; a graduate student.
having an academic degree or diploma:
a graduate engineer.

verb (used without object)

graduated, graduating.

to receive a degree or diploma on completing a course of study (often followed by from ):
She graduated from college in 1985.
to pass by degrees; change gradually.

verb (used with object)

graduated, graduating.

to confer a degree upon, or to grant a diploma to, at the close of a course of study, as in a university, college, or school:
Cornell graduated eighty students with honors.
Informal. to receive a degree or diploma from:
She graduated college in 1950.
to arrange in grades or gradations; establish gradation in.
to divide into or mark with degrees or other divisions, as the scale of a thermometer.

graduate

noun

1. a person who has been awarded a first degree from a university or college
2. ( as modifier )
  a graduate profession
a student who has completed a course of studies at a high school and received a diploma
a container, such as a flask, marked to indicate its capacity

verb

to receive or cause to receive a degree or diploma
tr to confer a degree, diploma, etc upon
tr to mark (a thermometer, flask, etc) with units of measurement; calibrate
tr to arrange or sort into groups according to type, quality, etc
introften foll byto to change by degrees (from something to something else)

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Usage Note

In the sense “to receive a degree or diploma” graduate followed by from is the most common construction today: Her daughter graduated from Yale in 1981. The passive form was graduated from, formerly insisted upon as the only correct pattern, has decreased in use and occurs infrequently today: My husband was graduated from West Point last year. Even though it is condemned by some as nonstandard, the use of graduate as a transitive verb meaning “to receive a degree or diploma from” is increasing in frequency in both speech and writing: The twins graduated high school in 1974.

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Derived Forms

ˈ��ˌ��ٴǰ�, noun

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Other 51�Թ� Forms

��u·��t�ǰ� noun
�Դǲ�·��u·��ٱ� noun
��p��·��u·��ٱ� noun
�ܲ�·��u·��i�Բ� adjective

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of graduate¹

1375–1425; late Middle English < Medieval Latin ��ٳܲ� (past participle of �� ), equivalent to grad ( us ) grade, step + -u- thematic vowel + -��ٳܲ� -ate ¹

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of graduate¹

C15: from Medieval Latin ��ī to take a degree, from Latin gradus a step

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Grant graduated in 2023 with a degree in Physical Education Teacher Education, the university team said.

From

The last year the Angels won a postseason game was the year he graduated from high school.

From

He worked his way through college and came to the U.S. on a student visa to pursue graduate studies.

From

She launched an “RN New Grads” program to help nurses who had just graduated.

From

Essayli is the son of Lebanese immigrants and the first person in his family to have graduated from college, according to his Assembly biography.

From

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