alumnus
[uh-luhm-nuh s]
- 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.
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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
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. 2018
Examples from the Web for alumnus
Contemporary Examples
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 CampaignMarlow 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 celebrated nanny college counts as its most famous (if fictional) alumnus Mary Poppins.
Bernie is a fabulous writer I have long admired, a model McGill alumnus, and a new friend.
The fact that the government employee in question is a McKinsey alumnus does not allay any of my concerns.
Historical Examples
It should not insist on making every alumnus a linguist or a mathematician.
He is an alumnus of Dartmouth of '87 and of Boston University, department of medicine, of '90.
Among the SiouxR. J. Creswell
But the work of the Association and its officers has not stopped with the Alumnus.
The University of MichiganWilfred Shaw
And chance might have made thee an alumnus, like one of those.
Quo VadisHenryk Sienkiewicz
The University, however, shares the attachment of the alumnus.
Oxford and Her CollegesGoldwin Smith
alumnus
- mainly US and Canadian a graduate of a school, college, etc
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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for alumnus
n.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper