graduate

grad·u·ate (gr

)

v. grad·u·at·ed, grad·u·at·ing, grad·u·ates

v.intr.

1. To be granted an academic degree or diploma: Two thirds of the entering freshmen stayed to graduate.

a. To change gradually or by degrees.

b. To advance to a new level of skill, achievement, or activity: After a summer of diving instruction, they had all graduated to back flips.

v.tr.

a. To grant an academic degree or diploma to: The teachers hope to graduate her this spring.

b. Usage Problem To receive an academic degree from.

2. To arrange or divide into categories, steps, or grades.

3. To divide into marked intervals, especially for use in measurement.

n. (-

1. One who has received an academic degree or diploma.

2. A graduated container, such as a cylinder or beaker.

adj. (-

1. Possessing an academic degree or diploma.

2. Of, intended for, or relating to studies beyond a bachelor's degree: graduate courses.

[Middle English graduaten, to confer a degree, from Medieval Latin gradur, gradut-, to take a degree, from Latin gradus, step; see grade.]

gradu·ator n.

Usage Note: The verb graduate has denoted the action of conferring an academic degree or diploma since at least 1421. Accordingly, the action of receiving a degree should be expressed in the passive, as in She was graduated from Yale in 1998. This use is still current, if old-fashioned, and is acceptable to 78 percent of the Usage Panel. In general usage, however, it has largely yielded to the much more recent active pattern (first attested in 1807): She graduated from Yale in 1998. Eighty-nine percent of the Panel accepts this use. It has the advantage of ascribing the accomplishment to the student, rather than to the institution, which is usually appropriate in discussions of individual students. When the institution's responsibility is emphasized, however, the older pattern may still be recommended. A sentence such as The university graduated more computer science majors in 1997 than in the entire previous decade stresses the university's accomplishment, say, of its computer science program. On the other hand, the sentence More computer science majors graduated in 1997 than in the entire previous decade implies that the class of 1997 was in some way a remarkable group.·The Usage Panel feels quite differently about the use of graduate to mean "to receive a degree from," as in She graduated Yale in 1998. Seventy-seven percent object to this usage.

graduate

Noun

1. a person who holds a university or college degree

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

3. same as postgraduate

Verb

[-ating, -ated]

1. to receive a degree or diploma

2. to change by degrees: the winds graduate from tropical storms to cyclones

3. to mark (a measuring flask or instrument) with units of measurement [Latin gradus a step]

ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms

Noun	1.	graduate - a person who has received a degree from a school (high school or college or university) alumna, alumnus, grad, alum Ivy Leaguer - a student or graduate at an Ivy League school old boy - a former male pupil of a school bookman, scholar, scholarly person, student - a learned person (especially in the humanities); someone who by long study has gained mastery in one or more disciplines
	2.	graduate - a measuring instrument for measuring fluid volume; a glass container (cup or cylinder or flask) whose sides are marked with or divided into amounts graduated cylinder - a cylindrical graduate measuring device, measuring instrument, measuring system - instrument that shows the extent or amount or quantity or degree of something
Verb	1.	graduate - receive an academic degree upon completion of one's studies; "She graduated in 1990" receive, have - get something; come into possession of; "receive payment"; "receive a gift"; "receive letters from the front"
	2.	graduate - confer an academic degree upon; "This school graduates 2,000 students each year" bestow, confer - present; "The university conferred a degree on its most famous former student, who never graduated"; "bestow an honor on someone"
	3.	graduate - make fine adjustments or divide into marked intervals for optimal measuring; "calibrate an instrument"; "graduate a cylinder" calibrate, fine-tune adjust, correct, set - alter or regulate so as to achieve accuracy or conform to a standard; "Adjust the clock, please"; "correct the alignment of the front wheels"
Adj.	1.	graduate - of or relating to studies beyond a bachelor's degree; "graduate courses" postgraduate high - greater than normal in degree or intensity or amount; "a high temperature"; "a high price"; "the high point of his career"; "high risks"; "has high hopes"; "the river is high"; "he has a high opinion of himself"