alumnus

C2+ Topic:Education & Learning

US /əˈlʌmnəs/ UK /əˈlʌmnəs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a male former student or graduate of a school or college

As a proud alumnus, he returned each autumn for the homecoming game.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a male former student or... graduatealumnaformer studentold boy

Word family

Related forms alumnaalumnialma mater

Simplified etymology

Alumnus was adopted from Latin, where it meant “pupil.” In English it refers to someone who attended a former place of education.

Etymology

From Latin alumnus ('nursling, pupil, foster son'), from alere ('to nourish, rear').

alumnus Latin alere Latin *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Education & Learning

External links

# alumnus

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /əˈlʌmnəs/
**IPA (UK):** /əˈlʌmnəs/

## Meanings
1. a male former student or graduate of a school or college

## Examples
- As a proud alumnus, he returned each autumn for the homecoming game.

## Synonyms
- graduate
- alumna
- former student
- old boy

## Related Forms
- alumna
- alumni
- alma mater

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: alumnus
- Root: alere
- Root: *h₂el-

## Etymology
From Latin alumnus ('nursling, pupil, foster son'), from alere ('to nourish, rear').

## AI Etymology
alumnus comes from Latin alumnus ('nursling, pupil, foster son'), from alere ('to nourish, rear'). The path is chiefly one of transmission: an older form is taken into English, with the word's shape and meaning carried through the language names and forms preserved in the history. In modern use, the noun sense is "a male former student or graduate of a school or college", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as alumna, alumni, alma mater, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Latin alumnus, Latin alere, Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

## Topics
- Education & Learning

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