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Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women. The word is Latin and means "one who is being (or has been) nourished". The term is not synonymous with "graduate"; one can be an alumnus without graduating ( Burt Reynolds, alumnus but not graduate of Florida State, is an example). The term is sometimes used to refer to a former employee or member of an organization, contributor, or inmate.
.. Separate, but from the same root, is the adjective ''almus'' "nourishing", found in the phrase ''Alma Mater'', a title for a person's home university. In Latin, ''alumnus'' is a legal term (
/ref> According to the United States Department of Education, the term ''alumnae'' is used in conjunction with either women's colleges or a female group of students. The term ''alumni'' is used in conjunction with either men's colleges, a male group of students, or a mixed group of students:
Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women. The word is Latin and means "one who is being (or has been) nourished". The term is not synonymous with "graduate"; one can be an alumnus without graduating ( Burt Reynolds, alumnus but not graduate of Florida State, is an example). The term is sometimes used to refer to a former employee or member of an organization, contributor, or inmate.
Etymology
TheLatin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
noun ''alumnus'' means "foster son" or "pupil". It is derived from PIE ''*h₂el-'' (grow, nourish), and it is a variant of the Latin verb ''alere'' "to nourish".Merriam-Webster: alumnus.. Separate, but from the same root, is the adjective ''almus'' "nourishing", found in the phrase ''Alma Mater'', a title for a person's home university. In Latin, ''alumnus'' is a legal term (
Roman law
Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the '' Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Ju ...
) to describe a child placed in fosterage
Fosterage, the practice of a family bringing up a child not their own, differs from adoption in that the child's parents, not the foster-parents, remain the acknowledged parents. In many modern western societies foster care can be organised by th ...
. According to John Boswell, the word "is nowhere defined in relation to status, privilege, or obligation." Citing the research of Henri Leclercq, Teresa Nani, and Beryl Rawson, who studied the many inscriptions about ''alumni,'' Boswell concluded that it referred to exposed children who were taken into a household where they were "regarded as somewhere between an heir and a slave, partaking in different ways of both categories." Despite the warmth of feelings between the parent and child, "an ''alumnus'' might be treated both as a beloved child and as a household servant."
Usage
An alumnus or alumna is a former student and most often a graduate of an educational institution (school, college, university).''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language''/ref> According to the United States Department of Education, the term ''alumnae'' is used in conjunction with either women's colleges or a female group of students. The term ''alumni'' is used in conjunction with either men's colleges, a male group of students, or a mixed group of students:
In accordance with the rules of grammar governing the inflexion of nouns in the Romance languages, the masculine plural alumni is correctly used for groups composed of both sexes: ''the alumni of Princeton University''.The term is sometimes informally shortened to "alum" (optional plural "alums")."alum." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1). Based on the ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'', © Random House, Inc. 2006. 1 December 2006. Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alum Alumni reunions are popular events at many institutions. They are usually organized by alumni associations and are often social occasions for fundraising.
See also
* :Alumni by educational institutionReferences
Bibliography
*External links
* {{Authority control Academic terminology