EDUCATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does educate mean? 

• EDUCATE (verb)
  The verb EDUCATE has 3 senses:

1. give an education to

2. create by training and teaching

3. teach or refine to be discriminative in taste or judgment

  Familiarity information: EDUCATE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EDUCATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they educate    ... he / she / it educates   
Past simple: educated   
Past participle: educated   
-ing form: educating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Give an education to

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

We must educate our youngsters better

Hypernyms (to "educate" is one way to...):

ameliorate; amend; better; improve; meliorate (to make better)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "educate"):

socialise; socialize (train for a social environment)

groom; prepare; train (educate for a future role or function)

co-educate; coeducate (educate persons of both sexes together)

school (educate in or as if in a school)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

educatee (a learner who is enrolled in an educational institution)

education (the profession of teaching (especially at a school or college or university))

education (the activities of educating or instructing; activities that impart knowledge or skill)

Education (the United States federal department that administers all federal programs dealing with education (including federal aid to educational institutions and students); created 1979)

educative (resulting in education)

educator (someone who educates young people)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Create by training and teaching

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

develop; educate; prepare; train

Context example:

we develop the leaders for the future

Hypernyms (to "educate" is one way to...):

instruct; learn; teach (impart skills or knowledge to)

Verb group:

build up; develop (change the use of and make available or usable)

prepare; train (undergo training or instruction in preparation for a particular role, function, or profession)

groom; prepare; train (educate for a future role or function)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "educate"):

retrain (teach new skills)

drill (train in the military, e.g., in the use of weapons)

house-train; housebreak (train (a pet) to live cleanly in a house)

toilet-train (train (a small child) to use the toilet)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

education (the profession of teaching (especially at a school or college or university))

education (the activities of educating or instructing; activities that impart knowledge or skill)

education (the gradual process of acquiring knowledge)

education (knowledge acquired by learning and instruction)

educative (resulting in education)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Teach or refine to be discriminative in taste or judgment

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

civilise; civilize; cultivate; educate; school; train

Context example:

She is well schooled in poetry

Hypernyms (to "educate" is one way to...):

down; fine-tune; polish; refine (improve or perfect by pruning or polishing)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "educate"):

sophisticate (make less natural or innocent)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

education (the result of good upbringing (especially knowledge of correct social behavior))

 Context examples 

An institution of higher education created to educate and grant degrees; often a part of a university.

(College, NCI Thesaurus)

She was a beauty, poor thing, and well educated.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Living, as I do, in an educated and scientific atmosphere, I could not have conceived that the first principles of zoology were so little known.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The activities of educating or instructing or teaching; activities that impart knowledge or skill.

(Education, NCI Thesaurus)

There was a difference amongst them as amongst the educated; and when I got to know them, and they me, this difference rapidly developed itself.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“He is not being educated anywhere. I don't know what to do with him. He is a difficult subject.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The researchers suggest this was likely because less educated men work outside more in China and are thus more exposed to polluted air.

(Pollution Linked to Significant Decline in Human Cognition, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The Cancer Clinical Trials Education Program provides training to nurses and social workers to educate patients and their families about clinical trials.

(Cancer Clinical Trials Education Program, NCI Thesaurus)

An approach to educating physicians in their offices.

(Academic Detailing, NCI Thesaurus)

Materials intended to educate the lay public in all aspects of cancer information

(Cancer Educational Materials, NCI Thesaurus)