Meanings
educate1
present singular third person educates · participle present educating · participle past educated · past educated · alternative educamate · alternative edumacate
educate2
comparative more educate · superlative most educate · alternative educamate · alternative edumacate
- obsoleteeducated
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
verbteach or refine to be discriminative in taste or judgment
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
educate · verb
- Latinēducātus
- Middle Englisheducaten
- Englisheducate
From Middle English educaten, from educat(e) (“educated”, also used as the past participle of educaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), from Latin ēducātus, the perfect passive participle of ēducō (“(of a child, physically or mentally) to bring up, train, nourish; (of a person in learning or art) to rear, educate, train; (plants or animals) to nourish, support, or produce”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), further from an intensive/frequentative formed on ēducō (“lead out, draw out; to raise up, erect”) + -ō.
More words from Middle English, Latin
Full word history & related roots →educate · adjective
- Latinēducātus
- Middle Englisheducat(e)“educated”
- Englisheducate
From Middle English educat(e) (“educated”, also used as the past participle of educaten), borrowed from Latin ēducātus, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.
More words from Middle English, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek παιδεύω
- παιδεύω (paideúō)to instruct or train
Arabic يُعَلم, درّب
- يُعَلمto instruct or train
- درّبto instruct or train
Bengali শিক্ষা দেওয়া
- শিক্ষা দেওয়া (śikkha deōẇa)to instruct or train
Bulgarian образовам, обучавам
- образовам (obrazovam)to instruct or train
- обучавам (obučavam)to instruct or train
- тренирам (treniram)to instruct or train
Catalan educar, instruir
- educarto instruct or train
- instruirto instruct or train
Czech vzdělat
- vzdělatto instruct or train
Dutch opleiden, onderwijzen
- opleidento instruct or train
- onderwijzento instruct or train
- opvoedento instruct or train
Esperanto eduki
- edukito instruct or train
Finnish kouluttaa, kasvattaa
- kouluttaato instruct or train
- kasvattaato instruct or train
French éduquer
- éduquerto instruct or train
German ausbilden, erziehen
- ausbildento instruct or train
- erziehento instruct or train
Greek εκπαιδεύω
- εκπαιδεύω (ekpaidévo)to instruct or train
Hebrew חִינֵּךְ
- חִינֵּךְto instruct or train
Hungarian oktat
- oktatto instruct or train
Irish oil
- oilto instruct or train
Italian istruire, educare
- istruireto instruct or train
- educareto instruct or train
Japanese 教える, 教育する
- 教える (oshieru)to instruct or train
- 教育する (kyōiku suru)to instruct or train
- 啓発する (keihatsu suru)to instruct or train
Latin ēducō
- ēducōto instruct or train
Latvian audzināt
- audzinātto instruct or train
Malay didik
- didikto instruct or train
Māori whakaako
- whakaakoto instruct or train
Polish edukować, uczyć
- edukowaćto instruct or train
- uczyćto instruct or train
Portuguese educar, instruir
- educarto instruct or train
- instruirto instruct or train
- ensinarto instruct or train
Romanian educa, instrui
- educato instruct or train
- instruito instruct or train
Russian обуча́ть, обучи́ть
- обуча́ть (obučátʹ)to instruct or train
- обучи́ть (obučítʹ)to instruct or train
- воспи́тывать (vospítyvatʹ)to instruct or train
Scottish Gaelic foghlaim, ionnsaich
- foghlaimto instruct or train
- ionnsaichto instruct or train
- teagaisgto instruct or train
Spanish educar, instruir
- educarto instruct or train
- instruirto instruct or train
Swahili elimisha
- elimishato instruct or train
Swedish utbilda, uppfostra
- utbildato instruct or train
- uppfostrato instruct or train
Tamil கற்பி
- கற்பி (kaṟpi)to instruct or train
Turkish eğitmek
- eğitmekto instruct or train
Welsh addysgu
- addysguto instruct or train
Cite this entry
educate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/educate
“educate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/educate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “educate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/educate.
Source: educate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.