educate

verb

ed·​u·​cate ˈe-jə-ˌkāt 

educated; educating

transitive verb

1

a

: to provide schooling for

chose to educate their children at home

b

: to train by formal instruction and supervised practice especially in a skill, trade, or profession

2

a

: to develop mentally, morally, or aesthetically especially by instruction

b

: to provide with information : inform

educating themselves about changes in the industry

3

: to persuade or condition to feel, believe, or act in a desired way

educate the public to support our position

intransitive verb

: to educate a person or thing

Synonyms of educate

• teach

Choose the Right Synonym for educate

teach, instruct, educate, train, discipline, school mean to cause to acquire knowledge or skill.

teach applies to any manner of imparting information or skill so that others may learn.

taught us a lot about our planet

instruct suggests methodical or formal teaching.

instructs raw recruits in military drill

educate implies development of the mind.

more things than formal schooling serve to educate a person

train stresses instruction and drill with a specific end in view.

trained foreign pilots to operate the new aircraft

discipline implies training in habits of order and precision.

a disciplined mind

school implies training or disciplining especially in what is hard to master.

schooled the horse in five gaits

Examples of educate in a Sentence

Parents trust schools to educate their children.

The job of our public schools is to educate.

Recent Examples on the Web

SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. —Jacek Krywko, Scientific American, 10 Apr. 2026

He was educated in Rome as a canon lawyer within the church. —Bill Barrow, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2026

You were born and raised in Beirut and educated in France as an engineer. —Clay Chandler, semafor.com, 10 Apr. 2026

Muenz emphasized that the city needs to educate the community on why the improvements are necessary, and suggested the council could explore alternate options for next year to potentially ease the costs to ratepayers in future years. —Molly Morrow, Chicago Tribune, 9 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, to rear, from Latin educatus, past participle of educare to rear, educate, from educere to lead forth — more at educe

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 2a

Phrases Containing educate

• self-educate

Rhymes for educate

• abdicate
• abrogate
• acetate
• activate
• actuate
• adsorbate
• aggravate
• agitate
• alginate
• alienate
• allocate
• amputate

Kids Definition

educate

verb

ed·​u·​cate ˈej-ə-ˌkāt 

educated; educating

1

: to provide schooling for

2

a

: to develop the mind and morals of especially by instruction

b

: train entry 2 sense 2a

educator

-ˌkāt-ər

noun