Graduated

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Having successfully finished a level of education such as high school or college ; marked by a series of distinct divisions or steps in measurement or design
2. Completed formal education requirements to receive a diploma or degree ; characterized by incremental progressions or clearly defined gradations
3. Finished an academic program and received certification ; organized into sequential intervals or stages, often to show gradual change

Etymology: The verb "graduated" is the past tense of "graduate", and the root idea is literally "step". Medieval Latin "graduatus" was the past participle of "graduare", formed from Latin "gradus", meaning a step or degree, the same word behind "grade" and "degree". To graduate was, at root, to advance step by step, and the Latin noun "graduatus" came to mean a person who had reached a certain degree of learning. English took the idea over in Middle English, where "graduate" served both as a noun for a person holding a university degree and as a past participle meaning "having graduated." The verb "graduaten" was then formed from that participle, so the modern verb carries a degree-holder's status inside it. The sense of finishing school successfully therefore grew from the older notion of reaching a recognised rank in learning.

Synonyms: completed, finished, qualified, attained, achieved

Antonyms: incomplete, unqualified, failed, dropped out, non-graduate