graduate

American  

[graj-oo-it, -ayt, graj-oo-ayt] / ˈgrædʒ u ɪt, -ˌeɪt, ˈgrædʒ uˌeɪt /

noun

• graduates
  plural

1. a person who has received a degree or diploma on completing a course of study, as in a university, college, or school.

2. a student who holds the bachelor's or the first professional degree and is studying for an advanced degree.

3. a graduated cylinder, used for measuring.

---

adjective

1. of, relating to, or involved in academic study beyond the first or bachelor's degree.

   graduate courses in business; a graduate student.

2. having an academic degree or diploma.

   a graduate engineer.

verb (used without object)

• graduates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• graduated,
  past participle,  past
• graduating
  present participle

1. to receive a degree or diploma on completing a course of study (often followed byfrom ).

   She graduated from college in 1985.

2. to pass by degrees; change gradually.

verb (used with object)

• graduates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• graduated,
  past participle,  past
• graduating
  present participle

1. 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.

2. Informal. to receive a degree or diploma from.

   She graduated college in 1950.

3. to arrange in grades or gradations; establish gradation in.

4. to divide into or mark with degrees or other divisions, as the scale of a thermometer.

graduate British  

noun

1. 1. a person who has been awarded a first degree from a university or college

   2. ( as modifier )

      a graduate profession

2. a student who has completed a course of studies at a high school and received a diploma

3. a container, such as a flask, marked to indicate its capacity

---

verb

1. to receive or cause to receive a degree or diploma

2. (tr) to confer a degree, diploma, etc upon

3. (tr) to mark (a thermometer, flask, etc) with units of measurement; calibrate

4. (tr) to arrange or sort into groups according to type, quality, etc

5. to change by degrees (from something to something else)

Usage

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.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• graduator
  noun
• nongraduate
  noun
• supergraduate
  noun
• ungraduating
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• graduates
  plural

Participles

• graduating
  present
• graduated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• graduate
  simple
• graduates
  simple
• have graduated
  perfect
• has graduated
  perfect
• am graduating
  progressive
• are graduating
  progressive
• is graduating
  progressive
• have been graduating
  perfect progressive
• has been graduating
  perfect progressive

Past

• graduated
  simple
• had graduated
  perfect
• was graduating
  progressive
• were graduating
  progressive
• had been graduating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will graduate
  simple
• will have graduated
  perfect
• will be graduating
  progressive
• will have been graduating
  perfect progressive

---

Etymology

Origin of graduate

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

---

Explanation

To graduate means to successfully complete your schooling, to become "a graduate." When you graduate from high school, you become a high school graduate and congratulations are in order. A graduate is someone who has received a degree from a school. As a verb graduate refers to the act of receiving this degree “I plan to graduate from college in the spring,” or the act of giving a degree “I want to graduate all of my students.” In a scientific sense, graduate can mean to calibrate for fine adjustments. To make a thermometer, you have to graduate it by degrees so it displays a range of temperatures.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

graduate graduates graduated graduating

Evans was a 25-year-old MIT graduate when he and Holmes met in the fall of 2017 at an event in San Francisco.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

For the past five years, Sweet and fellow graduate student Mat Bloomfield have worked with cell biologist Daniela Cimini to investigate cells carrying abnormal numbers of chromosomes, a common characteristic of cancer.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2026

Piane was a Kansas City native and a New York University graduate.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026

The story of his journey to becoming custodian of the UK's Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock is set to be told in a 30-minute documentary by University of Lancashire graduate Sarah Bullough.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

She couldn’t wait to graduate and kiss that school goodbye.

From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor

Some law schools explicitly discourage graduates from calling themselves lawyers or attorneys until they have been admitted to the bar.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

It’s in the second half of the novel, after Batter graduates from college, that the plot gains momentum and begins to soar.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

A weakened economy has shrunk the job market, just as record numbers of college graduates are looking to start their careers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

"We will continue to look for ways to make the system fairer for students, graduates and taxpayers in a financially sustainable way," it said.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

The choir was summoned and sang a modern arrangement of “Onward, Christian Soldiers,” with new words pertaining to graduates seeking their place in the world.

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

After going 7-3 and breaking the school’s single-season touchdown passing record Croick once held, all of the team’s star players graduated.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

A group of former Cornell students, who belonged to the same Chi Phi fraternity as the seven accused but graduated before the alleged incident, also complained of online smear campaigns.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

This year, a record 12.7 million people graduated from college in China—a figure that is expected to continue to climb for about a decade.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

She was originally from Mutare in eastern Zimbabwe, had graduated with a PhD from Dundee University, and had recently started working for Scottish Water.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

“I graduated early. I explained that to you already, Hank.”

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko

After graduating with degrees in Spanish and rhetoric and communications studies, Horton played professionally in Europe.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Zacharia took the bar exam in California after graduating from law school but did not pass, according to the Wall Street Journal.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

After graduating from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts, he became an evangelist with a Christian organization called InterVarsity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

"We are glad that Rooppur is known to the world, and my friends and I hope that we will work at the plant after graduating from engineering schools," he added.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

She fulfilled her student teaching requirements at Phenix High, and after graduating in 1942, accepted a job teaching math at a Negro high school in Maryland.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• alum
• alumna
• alumnus
• doctor
• grad
• recipient

---