graduate
[noun, adjective graj-oo-it, -eyt; verb graj-oo-eyt]
- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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Origin of graduate
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.
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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
earnfinishrankwincertifysortgroupproportionclassrangemeasureregulateorderarrangecalibrateExamples from the Web for graduating
Contemporary Examples
He came to Atari seven years ago, immediately after graduating from Berkeley.
After graduating high school, he attending the University of Virginia, double-majoring in economics and foreign relations.
Ben McKenzie’s Journey From Reluctant Teen Idol on ‘The O.C.’ to Sheriff of ‘Gotham’Marlow Stern
November 4, 2014
All these talented chefs are graduating from these old-guard kitchens and branching out and the market is saturated.
She was a talented singer, and after graduating high school in Aurora she enrolled at Denver Community College to study music.
After graduating from college, I lived for 15 years without even owning a television set.
Historical Examples
After graduating, they find out that they still don't know what they want.
The Civilization of IlliteracyMihai Nadin
I speak more directly to you, then, gentlemen of the graduating class.
Medical EssaysOliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Then she was to return to school and take part in the graduating exercises.
The Johnstown HorrorJames Herbert Walker
She had dressed in her graduating gown—a fluffy bit of white and ribbon.
A Young Man in a HurryRobert W. Chambers
After graduating he spent six months in a packing-house at $6 a week.
When Winter Comes to Main StreetGrant Martin Overton
graduate
- a person who has been awarded a first degree from a university or college
- (as modifier)a graduate profession
- US and Canadian a student who has completed a course of studies at a high school and received a diploma
- US a container, such as a flask, marked to indicate its capacity
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- to receive or cause to receive a degree or diploma
- (tr) mainly US and Canadian 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
- (intr often foll by to) to change by degrees (from something to something else)
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Word Origin
C15: from Medieval Latin graduārī to take a degree, from Latin gradus a step
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for graduating
graduate
v.
early 15c., "to confer a university degree upon," from Medieval Latin graduatus (see graduate (n.)). Intransitive sense from 1807. Related: Graduated; graduating.
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graduate
n.
early 15c., "one who holds a degree" (with man; as a stand-alone noun from mid-15c.), from Medieval Latin graduatus, past participle of graduari "to take a degree," from Latin gradus "step, grade" (see grade). As an adjective, from late 15c.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper