alumnus

American  

[uh-luhm-nuhs] / əˈlʌm nəs /

noun

• alumni
  plural

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

   As an alumnus of this university myself, I am proud to dedicate its new building.

2. a former associate, employee, member, or the like.

   He invited all the alumni of the library staff to the party.

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alumnus British  

/ əˈlʌmnəs /

noun

1. a graduate of a school, college, etc

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Usage

What’s the difference between alumnus and alumni? An alumnus is a graduate of a school, such as a high school or university. The plural of alumnus is alumni (which follows the plural ending construction used in other Latin-derived words, like stimulus and stimuli). In Latin, alumnus specifically refers to a male graduate, and sometimes this distinction is carried into English, with alumna being used to refer to a female graduate. The plural of alumna is alumnae. Still, alumnus and alumni are both commonly used in a gender-neutral way. The informal shortening alum is used to refer to a single graduate (regardless of gender). It’s sometimes pluralized as alums. Here’s an example of alumnus and alumni used correctly in the same sentence. Example: As an alumnus, you share something with all of the alumni, regardless of when each of you graduated. Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between alumnus and alumni.

Gender

Alumnus (in Latin a masculine noun) usually 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 mixed gender groups 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. Some people use the less formal abbreviation alum and its plural alums to avoid the complexities of the Latin forms and their unfamiliar gender inflection. Others use the terms graduate and graduates, though they are not quite equivalent in meaning, to eliminate the use of a masculine plural form to refer to all genders.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• alumni
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of alumnus

First recorded in 1600–10; from Latin: “foster son, pupil,” equivalent to al- (stem of alere “to suckle, feed, support”) + -u- (from stem-vowel *-o- in interior syllable) + -m(i)nus, originally passive participial suffix, akin to Greek -menos; cf. adult ( def. ), alimony

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Explanation

An alumnus is a graduate of a school. You can be an alumnus of a high school, college or university. Want to be an alumnus? Then you'd better study hard and graduate: an alumnus has received a diploma or degree from a school. You've probably heard of some famous or successful alumni (the plural of alumnus from your own school: schools tend to be proud of students who have gone on to do well. Schools also like to ask each alumnus (famous or not) to give back to the school — usually monetarily.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

alumnus alumni

The New York City-raised Syracuse alumnus has been enamored with the Lakers since the Showtime Era.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

They were soon joined by another Polytechnique alumnus, Thomas Wolf, a wide-ranging talent who holds a doctorate in quantum physics and also worked as an intellectual property lawyer.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

It happened in the Philadelphia episode, after Transportation Secretary and “Real World: Boston” alumnus Sean Duffy herded his family past the Liberty Bell, but just before he took them into the National Constitution Center.

From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026

She and her husband, Paul Pelosi — a Georgetown alumnus — established the Paul F. Pelosi Scholars Initiative at Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service in 2018, which supports students pursuing public service careers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

When you said “Devon” to an alumnus ten years after graduation he visualized the Center Common.

From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles

The Games will also bring alumni and students “from across the globe,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

The Cooper Union college, whose alumni include inventor Thomas Edison, has owned the land on which the Chrysler Building stands since 1902.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

In one of our boys’ high schools, which lost 13 alumni in battle on or after Oct.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

The Menlo Park-based firm’s six-person investment and research team comes from strategic finance backgrounds and includes alumni from Palantir, restaurant-management software provider Toast and online ticketing platform StubHub, Fogelsong said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

They have a lot of old Hampdenians working for them, including Jack Teitelbaum and Rooney Wynne, according to a feature article not long ago in the alumni magazine.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

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Related Words

• alum
• graduate

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