Graduate and graduate are two words that are spelled identically but are pronounced differently and have different meanings, which makes them heteronyms. We will examine the definitions of the words graduate and graduate, where these words came from, and a few examples of their use in sentences.
Graduate (GRAD yew ut) is a person who has completed a course of study at a college, university, secondary school, or other institution. The plural form is graduates. The word graduate is derived from the Latin, gradus, which means a step taken.
Graduate (GRAD yew ate) is a verb that means to complete a course of study at a college, university, secondary school, or other institution or to receive an academic degree from a college, university, secondary school, or other institution. In North America, graduate is also used as a verb to mean bestow a degree on someone who has completed a course of study. Graduate is also used to mean to arrange a series according to size, scale, color, weight, worth, etc. Related words are graduates, graduated, graduating, graduation. The word graduate is derived from the Latin word, graduatus, which means to obtain a degree.
Examples
Durango Police Chief Bob Brammer said it is a little tougher to determine the “portrait of a graduate” from a police perspective because of the gap between high school graduation and a job on the police force – a 17-year-old graduate can’t join the force until at least age 21. (Durango Herald)
Sahar Formoli, a graduate who earned degrees in political science and molecular biology, addressed the audience on behalf of her peers. (East Bay Times)
“Hotties you can watch me graduate today,” Megan Thee Stallion wrote on social media, sharing the streaming link to her TSU graduation with her combined 34 million Twitter and Instagram followers. (People)
172 nursing students at the University of Maryland will graduate early due to the labor shortage. (Business Insider)
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