Origin: Latin suffix -ate
Graduate has 9 different meanings across 3 categories:
a measuring instrument for measuring fluid volume; a glass container (cup or cylinder or flask) whose sides are marked with or divided into amounts
"The chemist carefully poured the liquid until it reached the graduation mark on the graduated cylinder."
A person who is recognized by a university as having completed the requirements of a degree studied at the institution.
"After years of studying and passing her exams, Sarah finally graduated from Harvard University yesterday."
In plain English: A graduate is a person who has finished all their classes at school or college and received a diploma.
"She finally became a graduate of the university after four years of hard work."
Usage: Use "graduate" as a noun to refer specifically to a person who has successfully completed their studies and received a degree from an institution. Do not use it to describe someone who is merely enrolled in a program or taking classes but has not yet finished them.
To be recognized by a school or university as having completed the requirements of a degree studied at the institution.
"She will graduate from the university next month after finally passing all her final exams and defending her thesis."
In plain English: To graduate means to officially finish your studies at a school and receive your diploma.
"She will graduate from college next spring."
Usage: Use "graduate" as a verb to indicate that you have officially finished your studies and received a degree from an educational institution. You are correct only when referring to the completion of academic requirements, not simply when you finish a specific course or semester.
graduated, arranged by degrees
"The students sat in rows that were graduated from shortest to tallest."
In plain English: Graduate describes someone who has finished all their school classes and received a diploma.
"We invited all the graduate students to attend the conference."
Usage: Use "graduated" to describe objects or scales that are marked with increasing intervals, such as a ruler or thermometer. Do not use it to mean someone has completed their studies; instead, use the past participle of "graduate" as a verb for that purpose.
The word "graduate" comes from Medieval Latin graduātus, which literally means "having taken a step." It entered English through Middle English to describe someone who has completed a course of study at a university.