Pregraduates

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Referring to individuals who are in the process of completing their undergraduate education before receiving their degree
2. Describing students who have not yet graduated from a college or university and are still pursuing their studies
3. Characterizing those enrolled in an undergraduate program but who have not yet attained their academic qualifications

Etymology: "Pregraduates" is the plural of "pregraduate," a noun for people still working toward an undergraduate degree who have not yet earned it. The word is a plain formation: the prefix "pre-," meaning "before," attached to "graduate." That prefix comes from Latin "prae," "before," which entered English through Middle English "pre-," and it appears in countless English words such as "preview" and "prerequisite." The base, "graduate," comes from the Medieval Latin verb "graduare," meaning to take a degree, built from the Latin "gradus," "step." Universities of the Middle Ages treated a degree as a step up a ladder of academic rank, and the image of climbing still sits inside the word. Adding "pre-" to "graduate" creates a term for those standing just below the final step, which is why the word is useful in university administration: it names a group defined entirely by the qualification they have not yet reached.