alumnus

[uh-luhm-nuh s]

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noun, plural a·lum·ni [uh-luhm-nahy, -nee] /əˈlʌm naɪ, -ni/.

a graduate or former student of a specific school, college, or university.

a former associate, employee, member, or the like: He invited all the alumni of the library staff to the party.

Origin of alumnus

1635–45; < Latin: foster son, pupil, equivalent to al- (stem of alere to feed, support) + -u- (< stem-vowel *-o- in interior syllable) + -m(i)nus, orig. passive participial suffix (cf. adult, old), akin to Greek -menos; see phenomenon

Can be confusedalum alumna alumnae alumni alumnus (see usage note at the current entry)

Usage note

Alumnus (in Latin a masculine noun) refers to a male graduate or former student; the plural is alumni. An alumna (in Latin a feminine noun) refers to a female graduate or former student; the plural is alumnae. Traditionally, the masculine plural alumni has been used for groups composed of both sexes and is still widely so used: the alumni of Indiana University. Sometimes, to avoid any suggestion of sexism, both terms are used for mixed groups: the alumni/alumnae of Indiana University or the alumni and alumnae of Indiana University. While not quite equivalent in meaning, the terms graduate and graduates avoid the complexities of the Latin forms and eliminate any need for using a masculine plural form to refer to both sexes.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for alumnus

alum, alumna, postgraduate

Examples from the Web for alumnus

Contemporary Examples of alumnus

She says she met Cosby, a Temple alumnus and big-time donor to the university, in November 2002.
How Bill Cosby Allegedly Silenced His Accusers Through A Tabloid Smear Campaign
Marlow Stern
November 21, 2014
A former House Budget chairman and Fox News alumnus, Kasich was a libertarian leaning fiscal conservative before it was cool.
The Secret GOP Swing State Election Romp
John Avlon
October 28, 2014
The celebrated nanny college counts as its most famous (if fictional) alumnus Mary Poppins.
More Details About Prince George's New Nanny
Tom Sykes
March 21, 2014
Bernie is a fabulous writer I have long admired, a model McGill alumnus, and a new friend.
The Hagel Finagel: On McCarthyite Attacks
Gil Troy
December 28, 2012
The fact that the government employee in question is a McKinsey alumnus does not allay any of my concerns.
The Green Stimulus' Red Ink
David Frum
December 3, 2012

Historical Examples of alumnus

It should not insist on making every alumnus a linguist or a mathematician.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 107, September, 1866
Various
He is an alumnus of Dartmouth of '87 and of Boston University, department of medicine, of '90.
Among the Sioux
R. J. Creswell
But the work of the Association and its officers has not stopped with the Alumnus.
The University of Michigan
Wilfred Shaw
And chance might have made thee an alumnus, like one of those.
Quo Vadis
Henryk Sienkiewicz
The University, however, shares the attachment of the alumnus.
Oxford and Her Colleges
Goldwin Smith

British Dictionary definitions for alumnus

alumnus

noun plural -ni (-naɪ)

mainly US and Canadian a graduate of a school, college, etc

Word Origin for alumnus

C17: from Latin: nursling, pupil, foster son, from alere to nourish

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for alumnus

1640s, from Latin alumnus "a pupil," literally "foster son," vestigial present passive participle of alere "to nourish" (see old), with ending akin to Greek -omenos. Plural is alumni. Fem. is alumna (1882), fem. plural alumnae.