▪ I. graduate, a. and n.
(ˈgrædjuːət)
Also 5–7 graduat, 6 graduatt, 7 gradiate.
[ad. med.L. graduāt-us, pa. pple. of graduāre to graduate, f. gradu-s step, degree.]
A. pa. pple. and ppl. a. Equivalent to the later graduated.
1. Admitted to or holding a university degree. Obs. exc. as an attrib. use of the n., e.g. ‘the graduate members of the university’.
| 1494 Fabyan Chron. vii. 455 The Frenshe kyng this yere put to deth one maister Henry de Malestrete, a graduat man. 1563–7 Buchanan Reform. St. Andros Wks. (1892) 13 The examinatouris salbe graduat, ane in theologie, ane that has red in philosophie. 1591 R. Turnbull Expos. Jas. 95 For the word is the word, whether a Doctor of diuinitie preach it, or a man learned, yet not graduat. 1637 Gillespie Eng. Pop. Cerem. iii. iv. 73 Graduate men should under⁓stand better what they speake off. 1637–50 Row Hist. Kirk (Wodrow Soc.) 447 Shortlie thereafter, he wes graduat in Padua, Doctor utriusque Juris. 1687 W. Sherwin in Magdalen Coll. (O.H.S.) 216 There was a Cloth laid in the Hall for the Undergraduate Fellow above the Graduate Demies. 1753 Hanway Trav. (1762) I. iv. liv. 248 note, Dr. Cooke, now a graduate physician in Scotland. |
2. Arranged by steps or degrees. Now rare.
| 1628 Feltham Resolves ii. xcii. 268 From whom all things, by a graduate Derivation, haue their light, life, and being. 1658 Franck Northern Memoirs (1694) 170 Nor got our Ship the Mediums of Motion, but by Argument of Force..which forced her by graduate Means, till arriving in this Ness. 1789 E. Tatham Chart & Scale Truth (1790) I. 42 Beginning with the Genus, passing through all the graduate and subordinate stages. 1855 Lynch Rivulet xxx. i, The starry ranks..In graduate scale of might, They all are sons of light. |
B. n.
1. One who has obtained a degree from a university, college or other authority conferring degrees.
In the U.S. sometimes used for: A pupil who has completed a school course and passed the final examination.
| 1479 Paston Lett. No. 830 III. 246 Master Edmund, that was my rewler at Oxforth..kan tell yow, or ellys any oder gradwat. 1509–10 Act 1 Hen. VIII, c. 14 No manne undre the degree of a Gentilman excepte Graduates of the Universities. 1563–7 Buchanan Reform. St. Andros Wks. (1892) 15 Chosin be the hayl graduattis of the vniuersite. 1586 (title) A Discourse of English Poetrie..By William Webbe Graduate. a 1613 Overbury A Wife (1638) 123 His Ambition is, that he either is or shall be a Graduate. a 1657 Lovelace Poems (1864) 251 Fair Cam saw thee matriculate At once a tyro and a graduate. 1733 Bramston Man of Taste 17 Of Graduates I dislike the learned rout, And chuse a female Doctor for the gout. 1773 J. Adams Diary in Works II. 321 Their academy [in Phila.] emits from nine to fourteen graduates annually. 1776 Adam Smith W.N. v. i. (1869) II. 347 The privileges of graduates in arts, in law, in physic, and divinity. 1858 Doran Crt. Fools 124 He held the University graduates in very absolute contempt. 1861 Amer. Cycl. XII. 396 The whole number of pupils who have been connected with the school is 3,408, of graduates 1,158. 1888 A. K. Green Behind Closed Doors iii, He is a graduate of the Medical School. 1952 Manch. Guardian Weekly 18 Sept. 13/2 To an astonishing degree Groton graduates have made names for themselves in public life. |
2. transf. One who is advanced in any art, career, occupation, or profession; a proficient. Now rare.
| 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's E. Ind. xiv. 36 b, The Maisters which teach them be graduats in the weapons which they teach. c 1600 Songs Costume (Percy Soc.) 120 None but graduates can proceede In sinne so far till this they neede. 1625 Fletcher Fair Maid of Inn iv. ii, I would be a graduate, sir, no freshman. 1642 Sir E. Dering Sp. on Relig. xvi. 86 Your gradiate in the schoole of warre will tell you, that [etc.]. 1658 T. Wall Charac. Enemies Ch. (1659) 34 To be a graduate in ungraciousness. 1883 E. Ingersoll in Harper's Mag. Jan. 206/2 The Americans employed are very often graduates of the Maine woods. |
3. A graduated cup, tube, or flask; a measuring glass used by apothecaries and chemists; the quantity contained in such a glass.
| 1883 Haldane Workshop Rec. Ser. ii. 114 A graduate that has contained tincture of iron. 1895 Westm. Gaz. 6 July 1/3 Though his black eyes were starting out with pain he said nothing till a graduate of oil had been poured on. |
4. attrib., as graduate course, graduate school, graduate student, etc.
| 1871 L. H. Bagg 4 Years at Yale 112 Delta Phi has also four alumni associations, or ‘graduate chapters’. 1880 Harvard Catal. 190 (heading) Graduate department. Ibid., Any Graduate course which is taken by less than three students may be withdrawn at the option of the Instructor. 1880 Harper's Mag. July 251/2 The solution of the difficulty lies in..putting the extra studies in the graduate courses. 1893 Bryn Mawr Program 34 The most distinguished place among graduate students will be held by the Fellows. 1895–6 Cal. University Nebraska 37 The Graduate School provides for advanced University work on the basis of completed undergraduate studies. 1926 Encycl. Brit. II. 318/2 The period under review [1909–26] was marked by constant developments in the graduate schools of the university [sc. Harvard]. 1951 M. McLuhan Mech. Bride 43/2 The Harvard methods and pursuits differ little from those of any other graduate school. 1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 10 Oct. 578/2 Just another piece of graduate-student exhibitionism. |
▸ graduate tax n. chiefly Brit. and Austral. a (proposed) tax levied on graduates of higher education institutions in order to recoup some of the cost of publicly funded tuition.
| 1967 Econ. Jrnl. 77 294 The *graduate tax would be on gross income, and the income tax on income net of the graduate tax. 1988 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 5 May 1/7 Under the plan, tertiary students would have to pay the graduate tax from the time they start earning the average wage..until they paid back their fees. 2001 Times 19 Nov. 11/1 A second model proposes grants only for the poorest, with a different level of graduate tax. |
▪ II. graduate, v.
(ˈgrædjuːeɪt)
[f. med.L. graduāt-, ppl. stem of graduāre (in sense 1), f. gradu-s step, Cf. F. graduer.]
I. In University phraseology.
1. trans. To admit to a university degree. Also with complement, indicating the degree obtained. (Cf. sense 3.) Now rare exc. U.S.
| 1588 Parke tr. Mendoza's Hist. China xiv. 95 To commence or graduate such students as haue finished their course. 1602 Carew Surv. Cornwall i. (1723) 61 John Tregonwel, graduated a Doctor and dubbed a Knight, did his Prince good seruice. c 1645 Howell Lett. (1650) I. 3 Transplanting me thence to Oxford, to be graduated. 1693 Apol. Clergy Scot. 106 An insinuation that he was not graduated Doctor in the University. 1723 in B. Peirce Hist. Harvard Univ. (1833) 128 The Theses of the Batchelours to be graduated at Commencement. 1766 T. Clap Hist. Yale Coll. 23 [He] upon his Return was graduated at this College 1724. 1844 Emerson Lect., New Eng. Ref. Wks. (Bohn) I. 262 Some thousands of young men are graduated at our colleges in this country every year. 1884 Harper's Mag. Nov. 813/1 The class of '76 was graduated with six men. |
| fig. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d' Alf. I. 75 With him I ranne over the whole course of my misfortunes, since the first time that I was graduated and tooke degree in them. a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Durham (1662) I. 316 This Fresh-man Colledge lived not to be matriculated, much less (not lasting seven years) graduated, God in his wisdom seeing the contrary fitter. |
† 2. Of an acquirement, etc.: To qualify (a person) for a degree or as a proficient in an art, etc.
| 1624 Wotton Archit. 43 As if the very tearms of Architraues, and Frizes, and Cornices..were enough to graduate a Master of this Art. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 434 Among haire-braind Judgments, a hairelesse Chin graduateth him a hopefull, and gifted young man in their esteem. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. iii. 184 It has been held accomplishment enough to graduate a Student, if he could but stiffly wrangle out a vexatious dispute of some odd Peripatetick qualities. 1829 Southey Sir T. More II. 53 The course of life there was better adapted to graduate young men in the brutalizing habits of the society wherewith they were soon to mingle. |
3. a. intr. To take a university degree. Also (U.S.), to complete a high school course and receive a diploma.
| 1807 Southey Espriella's Lett. II. 76 Four years are then to be passed at college before the student can graduate. 1808 Monthly Mag. Oct. 224/1 He [Mandeville] graduated at Leyden in 1691. 1839 Marryat Diary Amer. Ser. i. III. 304, I married her a month after she had graduated. 1866 Odling Anim. Chem. Pref. 6 Among students, especially those about to graduate. 1882 I. M. Rittenhouse Jrnl. in Maud (1939) 77 The very minute that she found out she was too far behind the class to graduate she stopped school. 1892 Times 8 Mar. 10/1 In 1837 he graduated from Yale College. 1935 H. Nicolson Dwight Morrow i. 14 Dwight was..able to graduate from High School at the premature age of fourteen. |
b. transf. To qualify (as); also, to pass through a course of education or training in order to qualify.
| 1829 Southey Sir T. More II. 11 One who was preparing to graduate as a Saint. 1850 Sir A. De Vere Pict. Sketches I. 201 It is only when it has graduated as a nation, that a race completes its being. 1867 J. Hatton Tallants of B. viii, Richard Tallant was graduating very successfully in the Blackguard school. 1871 M. Collins Mrq. & Merch. I. x. 308 Their sisters..have graduated in the saloons of western London. |
II. gen.
4. a. trans. To divide into degrees; to mark out into portions according to a certain scale.
| 1594 Blundevil Exerc. vii. xii. (1636) 667 To graduate the first side of your staffe..you must lay the Ruler to the Centre A. 1665 Phil. Trans. I. 31 An Instrument for Graduating Thermometers to make them Standards of Heat and Cold. a 1691 Boyle Hist. Air (1692) 79, I have not seen any cylinder that hath been well graduated, 12 or 16 degrees being the most that are set upon the common weather-glass. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. v. 182 The thermometer..graduated according to the method of Farenheit. 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 266 Sometimes the wire o q is graduated. 1834–47 J. S. Macaulay Field Fortif. (1851) 301 Graduate that tangent, and place the crest of the traverse on a parallel plane ten feet above it. 1881 Anderson in Nature No. 626. 618 One of the frames is graduated. |
b. To arrange in gradations; to adapt to (something) by graduating; to apportion the incidence of (a tax) according to a certain scale.
| 1610 Healey St. Aug. Citie of God 460 They..begin to graduate the ages past. 1644 Digby Man's Soul xi. 436 The pure soule would apply it selfe therevnto, according to the proportion of her iudgements, and as they are graduated and qualifyed. 1761 Descr. S. Carolina 28 Those superior and general Laws of Nature whereby Heat and Cold in every Climate are commonly understood to be chiefly governed and graduated. 1816 J. Scott Vis. Paris (ed. 5) 123 There are editions of the works of all the established authors, graduated for every description of taste. 1832 W. Irving Alhambra (1875) 121 The Alhambra possesses retreats graduated to the heat of the weather. 1841 Myers Cath. Th. iv. §50. 434 A scale of ranks in society graduated according to the natural ascent of gifts and powers and moral attainments. 1860 Reade Cloister & H. II. 334, I called little Kate's hand a Kardiometer, or heart-measurer, because it graduated emotion, and pinched by scale. 1863 Fawcett Pol. Econ. iv. ii. (1876) 543 The proposal to graduate the Income-tax seems to sanction the principle that it is desirable to impose a penalty upon the accumulation of wealth. |
c. intr. for refl. To adapt oneself to a certain scale; to fall into grades or degrees.
| 1796 [see graduating below]. 1832 H. Martineau Each & All iv. 61 Our affections graduate according to a truer scale then that of hereditary rank. 1898 [see graduating below]. |
† d. trans. To carry up through a series of ascending degrees. Obs.
| 1694 ‘S. S.’ Loyal & Impart. Satirist Ded. 2 We shall be graduated up, through all the decent forms of Ingenious Cruelty..to a more Solemn and Ceremonious Death. |
† 5. a. To improve the grade or quality of; spec. in Alch. to transmute (a metal, an essence) into one of a higher grade. Obs.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. vi. xii 338 Dyars..advance and graduate their colours with Salts. 1655 G. S. Let. in Hartlib Ref. Commw. Bees 25 The tincture of the Concrete whence it was produced, which then being graduated beyond its own nature, leaveth its dye in grain. 1662 J. Sparrow tr. Behme's Rem. Wks., Consid. upon Stiefel 7 Which..reneweth the Essences, viz. the Forms of the Dark-world to the Fire-Life, and highly graduates or Exalts them and transmutes them into another thing. 1669 Boyle Cert. Physiol. Ess. etc. (ed. 2) 76 The Tincture was capable to transmute or graduate as much Silver as equall'd in weight that Gold from whence the Tincture was drawn. |
b. To concentrate (a solution) by evaporation. So F. graduer (Littré). (Cf. gradate v. 3, graduator c.)
| 1828–32 Webster, Graduate,..8 In chimistry, to bring fluids to a certain degree of consistency. |
6. intr. To pass by degrees or gradations; to change gradually; spec. in Geol., Bot., and Zool., said of a species or variety, or a kind of tissue passing gradually into another. Const. into, also with away.
| 1786 Gilpin Observ. Pict. Beauty I. p. xxxi, To make lights graduate as they ought. 1792 Minstrel (1793) II. 232 This tender sympathy of sorrow, imperceptibly to themselves, graduated to a still more tender sympathy of affection. 1799 Kirwan Geol. Ess. i. 209 The sandstone in the vicinity of Prague graduates into hornstone, and even into granite. 1832 H. T. De la Beche Geol. Man. (ed. 2) 407 This sandstone graduates into the inferior conglomerates. 1833 Lyell Princ. Geol. III. 362 In Shetland a granite composed of hornblende, mica, felspar, and quartz, graduates in an equally perfect manner into basalt. 1859 Darwin Orig. Spec. vi. (1873) 135 Climate and height or depth graduate away insensibly. 1868 ― Anim. & Plants I. v. 139 Carriers..graduate through foreign breeds into the rock-pigeon. 1884 tr. De Bary's Phaner. & Ferns 127 The elements bordering on the thin-walled tissue may graduate into the latter. |
Hence ˈgraduating vbl. n. (also attrib.) and ppl. a.
| 1786 Gilpin Observ. Pict. Beauty II. Expl. p. ix, A graduating light, a graduating shade, or a graduating distance, are all beautiful. 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) I. 455 The whole graduating series must be of the same origin. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxviii. 96 The full account of the exercises at the graduating of my own class. 1887 Spectator 15 Oct. 1389 The highest distinction that could be conferred on a graduating student. 1893 Gunter Miss Dividends 19 She is in the habit of going to West Point, to graduating exercises. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 20 Jan. 5/1 Lines of ribbon velvet in graduating widths trimmed it up to the waist. |
Add: [II.] [6.] b. To move on to a more advanced or exalted level, to rise in rank or grade; spec. in drug abuse, to progress to a more powerful drug.
| 1916 G. B. Shaw Pygmalion Epilogue 199 She discovered that this exquisite apparition had graduated from the gutter in a few months time. 1938 F. Scott Fitzgerald Let. Mar. (1964) 26 Either you accept responsibilities and let me graduate from this unwelcome role of stern father or you stay another year in jail with the children. 1966 G. Greene Comedians i. 13, I had already graduated into the position of the old friend. 1968 Wall St. Jrnl. 25 Mar. 14/3 Some students do ‘graduate’ from marijuana to heroin, or other drugs. 1984 J. Morgan Agatha Christie ii. 20 She started with pencil and by the time she was seven graduated to ink and an italic nib. |