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undergraduate

undergraduate

93 3.2
A student at a university who has not yet earned a first degree
  • noun
  • /ˌʌndərˈɡrædʒuɪt/
translation icon : estudiante de pregrado
  • We were indeed blessed with some of the strongest students in our undergraduate program.
  • undergraduate students
  • undergraduate program
  • undergraduate degree

Six in ten of our undergraduates receive scholarship support.

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Examples

  • When I was an undergraduate, I actually took your class.

  • The two met at nearby Denison College and fell in love as undergraduates.

  • We had one session for undergraduate students to give papers.

  • This is the last week of my undergraduate college classes.

  • the IT was organized by the Committee for Undergraduate Studies.

  • That will be when all the undergraduate classes have taken their seats.

  • I was an undergraduate at Oxford in my young days.

  • Look, it's an undergraduate degree in microbiology.

  • Based on our observations, we recommend two modifications to typical undergraduate research programs.

    Academic text (2011)
  • When I was an undergraduate, I studied biology and chemistry.

Synonyms

college student
vsundergraduate
140 1.0

A person studying at a college or university to get a first degree

refers specifically to someone who has not yet earned a first degree
undergrad
vsundergraduate
  • Informal
42 3.7

A student at a college or university who has not yet finished a first degree

is the full formal term used in official or academic contexts

How Educated

postgraduate
  • UK
3 4.0
undergraduate
93 3.2
student
1.0
educatee
7.2
learner
67 1.0
pupil
80 1.0

Surface Forms

undergraduate singular

Morphology

undergraduate = graduate (transparent) = under + graduate

The meaning is directly derived from 'under' (indicating 'not fully' or 'below') + 'graduate' (someone with a degree), yielding 'a student who has not yet earned a first degree'.

Etymology

Undergraduate comes from under- meaning 'below' or 'not yet' and graduate meaning 'a step' or 'a degree'. So an undergraduate is a student 'before' they earn their first degree.