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graduate

[noun, adjective graj-oo-it, -eyt; verb graj-oo-eyt]
noun
  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.
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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.
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verb (used without object), grad·u·at·ed, grad·u·at·ing.
  1. to receive a degree or diploma on completing a course of study (often followed by from): She graduated from college in 1985.
  2. to pass by degrees; change gradually.
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verb (used with object), grad·u·at·ed, grad·u·at·ing.
  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.
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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 -ate1
Related formsgrad·u·a·tor, nounnon·grad·u·ate, nounsu·per·grad·u·ate, nounun·grad·u·at·ing, adjective

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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for non-graduate

graduate

noun (ˈɡrædjʊɪt)
    1. a person who has been awarded a first degree from a university or college
    2. (as modifier)a graduate profession
  2. US and Canadian a student who has completed a course of studies at a high school and received a diploma
  3. US a container, such as a flask, marked to indicate its capacity
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verb (ˈɡrædjʊˌeɪt)
  1. to receive or cause to receive a degree or diploma
  2. (tr) mainly US and Canadian 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. (intr often foll by to) to change by degrees (from something to something else)
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Derived Formsgraduator, noun

Word Origin for graduate

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 non-graduate

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