abiturient

plural abiturients

1. Alternative letter-case form of Abiturient.

plural Abiturienten · plural Abiturients · alternative abiturient

1. A pupil / student in the German education system who is taking, or who has taken and passed, the Abitur.First known use mid 19th c.

   If we examine the statistics of the German Gymnasia, we shall find that an Abiturient very rarely leaves a Gymnasium so young as eighteen, [...]

   1875, The Southern Review, volume 16, number 33, page 195

   3 more examples

   He is already an Abiturient, a graduate of a gymnasium, one who has completed enough preparatory studies to turn directly, if need be, to professional work, [...]

   1900, Elbert Francis Baldwin, The Educational Value of the Social Side of Student Life, III, In Germany, in The Outlook, page 804

   (3) an Abiturient, minimum age 19, needs a practical course of ½ year and 2-2½ years at Chemieschule (day classes). An Abiturient is a student who has passed the matriculation examination after 9 years (8 in Austria) at secondary school.

   1958, Journal of the Royal Institute of Chemistry, volume 82, page 528

   Well, obviously a bright kid, but: When he got his Abitur (final exam at the Gymnasium), he had already the German equivalent of a 2-year US college education behind him. Nobody in his/her right mind would compare a US high-school graduate with an Abiturient. There is a two-year difference. The US public school system goes for only 12 years, and starts one year earlier than the German one.

   2000 February 22, Peter Alfke, “German Education”, in soc.culture.german (Usenet)