matriculate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to enroll in a college or university as a candidate for a degree.
-
to register (a coat of arms), used especially in Scottish heraldry.
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
-
to enrol or be enrolled in an institution, esp a college or university
-
(intr) to attain the academic standard required for a course at such an institution
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
have matriculatedperfect
-
has matriculatedperfect 3rd person singular
-
am matriculatingprogressive 1st person singular
-
have been matriculatingperfect progressive
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has been matriculatingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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are matriculatingprogressive
-
is matriculatingprogressive 3rd person singular
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matriculatingparticiple
-
matriculatessingular 3rd person
Past
-
had matriculatedperfect
-
was matriculatingprogressive singular
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had been matriculatingperfect progressive
-
were matriculatingprogressive plural
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matriculatedparticiple
-
matriculatedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of matriculate
1480–90 for earlier sense; < Medieval Latin mātrīculātus (person) listed (for some specific duty), equivalent to mātrīcul ( a ) list ( see matriculant) + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
When you matriculate at your local university, that means that you’ve enrolled there as a student. If you hope to matriculate at a certain school, it means you want to be a student there. The verb matriculate is often confused the verb graduate — which means a student has completed a course of study. Instead, use matriculate to describe the act of enrolling as a student at a university and save graduate for the day you hurl your tasseled cap at the sky. There is also a noun form of matriculate: a matriculate is someone who has enrolled as a student.
Vocabulary lists containing matriculate
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Matriculate somewhere else, and you might end up working behind the counter at Subway.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 15, 2012
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
