U

non-graduate

noun

a person who has received a degree or diploma on completing a course of study, as in a university, college, or school.
a student who holds the bachelor’s or the first professional degree and is studying for an advanced degree.
a graduated cylinder, used for measuring.

adjective

of, relating to, or involved in academic study beyond the first or bachelor’s degree: graduate courses in business; a graduate student.
having an academic degree or diploma: a graduate engineer.

verb (used without object), grad·u·at·ed, grad·u·at·ing.

to receive a degree or diploma on completing a course of study (often followed by from): She graduated from college in 1985.
to pass by degrees; change gradually.

verb (used with object), grad·u·at·ed, grad·u·at·ing.

to confer a degree upon, or to grant a diploma to, at the close of a course of study, as in a university, college, or school: Cornell graduated eighty students with honors.
Informal. to receive a degree or diploma from: She graduated college in 1950.
to arrange in grades or gradations; establish gradation in.
to divide into or mark with degrees or other divisions, as the scale of a thermometer.

noun (ˈɡrædjʊɪt)

1. a person who has been awarded a first degree from a university or college
2. (as modifier)a graduate profession
US and Canadian a student who has completed a course of studies at a high school and received a diploma
US a container, such as a flask, marked to indicate its capacity

verb (ˈɡrædjʊˌeɪt)

to receive or cause to receive a degree or diploma
(tr) mainly US and Canadian to confer a degree, diploma, etc upon
(tr) to mark (a thermometer, flask, etc) with units of measurement; calibrate
(tr) to arrange or sort into groups according to type, quality, etc
(intr often foll by to) to change by degrees (from something to something else)

v.early 15c., “to confer a university degree upon,” from Medieval Latin graduatus (see graduate (n.)). Intransitive sense from 1807. Related: Graduated; graduating. n.early 15c., “one who holds a degree” (with man; as a stand-alone noun from mid-15c.), from Medieval Latin graduatus, past participle of graduari “to take a degree,” from Latin gradus “step, grade” (see grade). As an adjective, from late 15c.