postgraduate

Etymology

It is formed from English post- + graduate,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} originally in American English.^[3] The base is ultimately from Medieval Latin graduātus (“having taken a degree”), from Latin gradus (“a step, a degree”).^[3] The OED and Etymonline start from the adjective graduate and Klein from the noun.^[2][3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to the period after graduating: 1858, in the New York Times.^[2][4][3] Dictionary.com gives 1855–60.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The adjective at first described a course of study pursued after graduation.^[3] The noun followed, in 1877 in a report of a Michigan legislative committee according to the OED and Merriam-Webster Unabridged,^[2][4] though Etymonline has it only from 1890.^[3] British dictionaries define it by a first degree,^[8][5] whereas Merriam-Webster Unabridged also records study after high school in preparation for college, and a student continuing after either high school or college.^[4] The short form postgrad appears as an adjective in 1933 and as a noun in 1946,^[2] and Etymonline dates post-grad to 1950.^[3]

Timeline

• 1858 – adjective, of a course of study after graduation.^[2][4][3]
• 1877 – noun, a student taking such a course.^[2][4] Etymonline has 1890.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to study after a first degree, or to the students following it: a postgraduate diploma.^[8][2][5]
2. Of or engaged in study after high school, usually in preparation for college.^[4]

Noun

1. A student who has a first degree and is working for a more advanced qualification.^[8][2][5]
2. A student continuing after graduating from high school or college.^[4]

Word family

• postgrad

Related words

• graduate
• post-
• grade

Usage notes

The usual term in the United States and Canada is graduate, according to Collins.^[8]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins