GRADUATE

graduate

(noun) a measuring instrument for measuring fluid volume; a glass container (cup or cylinder or flask) whose sides are marked with or divided into amounts

alumnus, alumna, alum, graduate, grad

(noun) a person who has received a degree from a school (high school or college or university)

calibrate, graduate, fine-tune

(verb) make fine adjustments or divide into marked intervals for optimal measuring; “calibrate an instrument”; “graduate a cylinder”

graduate

(verb) confer an academic degree upon; “This school graduates 2,000 students each year”

graduate

(verb) receive an academic degree upon completion of one’s studies; “She graduated in 1990”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

graduate (plural graduates)

A person who is recognized by a university as having completed the requirements of a degree studied at the institution.

(US, Canada) A person who is recognized by a high school as having completed the requirements of a course of study at the school.

(Philippines) A person who is recognized as having completed any level of education.

A graduated (marked) cup or other container, thus fit for measuring.

Antonyms

• (person recognized for having finished studies): student, drop-out

Coordinate terms

• (person recognized by school): graduand, undergraduate, postgraduate

Adjective

graduate (comparative more graduate, superlative most graduate)

graduated, arranged by degrees

holding an academic degree

relating to an academic degree

Verb

graduate (third-person singular simple present graduates, present participle graduating, simple past and past participle graduated)

(intransitive, ergative) To be recognized by a school or university as having completed the requirements of a degree studied at the institution.

(transitive, proscribed) To be certified as having earned a degree from; to graduate from (an institution).

(transitive) To certify (a student) as having earned a degree

(transitive) To mark (something) with degrees; to divide into regular steps or intervals, as the scale of a thermometer, a scheme of punishment or rewards, etc.

(intransitive) To change gradually.

To prepare gradually; to arrange, temper, or modify by degrees or to a certain degree; to determine the degrees of.

(chemistry) To bring to a certain degree of consistency, by evaporation, as a fluid.

To taper, as the tail of certain birds.

Usage notes

In the sense “to complete studies”, usage has shifted from the 19th century through the 21st century. Originally (from the 16th century) used transitively as “the school graduated the student” or passively as “the student was graduated [from the school, by the school]”; compare certified. In the 19th century began to be used as an ergative verb in the intransitive form “the student graduated from school”, “the student graduated”; the ergative occurs in English for change of state (compare break, melt), and reverses the subject compared to the transitive form: the student is the subject, not the school. This was originally proscribed, but was generally accepted by mid-20th century, and is now the preferred usage. The form “was graduated from” is a fossil, seen primarily in wedding invitations and obituaries, though the active form “the school graduated the student” is still in use. A further shift started mid-20th century, using the verb transitively with student subject, as in “the student graduated college” (note no “from”; compare completed). This has been used in major periodicals from the 1990s, but remains proscribed into the 21st century, being considered at best informal, at worst uneducated.

Note that there are thus two transitive forms, with the subject and object switching between the school and the student: “I graduated Indiana University” (newer, proscribed) vs. “Indiana University graduated me” (older, somewhat old-fashioned).

Source: Wiktionary

Grad"u*ate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Graduated p. pr. & vb. n. Graduating (.] Etym: [Cf. F. graduer. See Graduate, n., Grade.]

1. To mark with degrees; to divide into regular steps, grades, or intervals, as the scale of a thermometer, a scheme of punishment or rewards, etc.

2. To admit or elevate to a certain grade or degree; esp., in a college or university, to admit, at the close of the course, to an honorable standing defined by a diploma; as, he was graduated at Yale College.

3. To prepare gradually; to arrange, temper, or modify by degrees or to a certain degree; to determine the degrees of; as, to graduate the heat of an oven. Dyers advance and graduate their colors with salts. Browne.

4. (Chem.)

Definition: To bring to a certain degree of consistency, by evaporation, as a fluid. Graduating engine, a dividing engine. See Dividing engine, under Dividing.

Grad"u*ate, v. i.

1. To pass by degrees; to change gradually; to shade off; as, sandstone which graduates into gneiss; carnelian sometimes graduates into quartz.

2. (Zoöl.)

Definition: To taper, as the tail of certain birds.

3. To take a degree in a college or university; to become a graduate; to receive a diploma. He graduated at Oxford. Latham. He was brought to their bar and asked where he had graduated. Macaulay.

Grad"u*ate, n. Etym: [LL. graduatus, p. p. of graduare to admit to a degree, fr. L. gradus grade. See Grade, n.]

1. One who has received an academical or professional degree; one who has completed the prescribed course of study in any school or institution of learning.

2. A graduated cup, tube, or flask; a measuring glass used by apothecaries and chemists. See under Graduated.

Grad"u*ate, a. Etym: [See Graduate, n. & v.]

Definition: Arrangei by successive steps or degrees; graduated. Beginning with the genus, passing through all the graduate and subordinate stages. Tatham.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

GRADUATE

Etymology

Noun

Antonyms

Coordinate terms

Adjective

Verb

Usage notes

Recent Word Finds

Word of the Day

TRANSPOSITION

Do you know this game?