Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “graduate” come from?

Graduate comes from Latin graduatus, the past participle of gradī, meaning to step or walk, derived from Proto-Indo-European gʰredʰ-.

graduate (English): A person who is recognized by a university as...

Definitions

  1. A person who is recognized by a university as...

Ancestry of “graduate”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishgraduat—
2Latingraduātus—
3Latingraduō—
4Latingradusa step, pace; a stage, degree; a rank
5Proto-Italicgraðus—
6Proto-Indo-Europeangʰradʰ-—

Words derived from “graduate”

  • undergraduate
  • graduation
  • graduating
  • postgraduate
  • grad
  • postgraduation
  • nongraduate
  • undergraduateship
  • graduateness
  • pregraduate
  • pregraduation
  • graduator
  • nongraduating
  • postundergraduate
  • graduateship
  • disgraduate
  • graduational
  • undergraduacy
  • graduette
  • posztgraduális
Every word from Proto-Indo-European gʰradʰ- →