educate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to develop the faculties and powers of (a person) by teaching, instruction, or schooling.
- Synonyms:
- indoctrinate, drill, school, instruct
-
to qualify by instruction or training for a particular calling, practice, etc.; train.
to educate someone for law.
-
to provide schooling or training for; send to school.
-
to develop or train (the ear, taste, etc.).
to educate one's palate to appreciate fine food.
-
to inform.
to educate oneself about the best course of action.
verb (used without object)
verb
-
(also intr) to impart knowledge by formal instruction to (a pupil); teach
-
to provide schooling for (children)
I have educated my children at the best schools
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to improve or develop (a person, judgment, taste, skills, etc)
-
to train for some particular purpose or occupation
Synonym Usage
See teach.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
educatesimple
-
educatessimple
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have educatedperfect
-
has educatedperfect
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am educatingprogressive
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are educatingprogressive
-
is educatingprogressive
-
have been educatingperfect progressive
-
has been educatingperfect progressive
Past
-
educatedsimple
-
had educatedperfect
-
was educatingprogressive
-
were educatingprogressive
-
had been educatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of educate
First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English educate, educatyn, from Latin ēducātus “brought up, nurtured, taught” (past participle of ēducāre ), equivalent to ē- + -duc-, variant of dūc- “to lead” + -ātus see e- 1, -ate 1
Explanation
To educate is to teach, train, or inform someone. Teachers educate students. If the word educate makes you think of children, you're not far off. It comes from the Latin word educare meaning to "bring up, rear.” In the 1500s, Shakespeare borrowed it to mean "schooling." These days, any time you're in a classroom listening to a lecture, reading a book, or speaking with a teacher, you're being educated. Teachers educate students all the way from preschool to graduate school. Almost any experience can educate if you learn from it.
Vocabulary lists containing educate
Lead the Way: Duc and Duct
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ate
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: duc, duct
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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.
See Examples For:
Moreover, when students leave public schools for private academies, the students left behind are disproportionately special needs students who cost more to educate.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
"Sometimes it's easier to educate the parents through their children than the other way round."
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
Congress created it in 1967 to train new judges, educate court staff and produce research that helps courts run fairly and efficiently.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
“The ad was then and is now intended as a piece to educate America about how good vote by mail is, how much it has been working out,” Smith said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
With that relationship now established, and in his role as scientific advisor to Poillon, Frederick Cottrell began to educate himself about what was going on in Ernest Lawrence’s lab.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
To forestall this happening to younger women who are currently caregiving, she educates them about spousal IRAs, which allow nonworking spouses to save for retirement based on household income.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
A fellow ranger, former poacher Festus Benjamin, 31, told AFP he now educates his peers on the value of preserving the park's wildlife.
From Barron's ● Jan. 22, 2026
After university, Bobi Wine embarked on a music career, branding his craft "edutainment", that is, entertainment that educates.
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2026
UT Austin also educates medical professionals in “social determinants of health,” according to its website.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
“This city is a paradise, Tally. It feeds you, educates you, keeps you safe. It makes you pretty.”
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
He was educated at Robert Gordon's College, later graduating from the University of Aberdeen with a first-class honours degree in psychology in 1964.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Netanyahu, in contrast, was born to an elite academic family, spent his youth in the U.S., and was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
AI systems are increasingly capable of performing the creative, analytical and strategic work that was once the exclusive province of educated, well-paid professionals.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026
He co-authored the influential textbook Quantum Optics, a resource that has educated generations of physicists.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026
In the course of a few years della Porta’s personal experience came to be shared with the whole of educated Europe.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
"We are not coming from the north and educating people, but we are coming and saying... 'we do not know anything better, we have to learn from you'," she told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
Almendarez did reach out to an expert by asking Nye, who has decades of experience educating the public about what is and isn’t science.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026
Delaney at UC Berkeley said she doubts colleges will take such action at a large scale, because educating students is people-intensive with limited ways to cut costs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
Novo Nordisk and Lilly are preparing for the new coverage by publicizing it to patients and doctors and educating them on how to get patients into the program.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
“I’m educating the experts here,” Burry crowed in an e-mail.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
