Alumni#Usage

The Latin noun {{lang|la|alumnus}} means "foster son" or "pupil". It is derived from the Latin verb {{lang|la|alere}} "to nourish".{{cite Merriam-Webster|alumnus|access-date=5 December 2023}} Separate, but from the same root, is the adjective {{lang|la|almus}} "nourishing", found in the phrase alma mater, a title for a person's home university.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hsRISNLSSHAC&pg=PT41|page=41|title=Word Origins|author=John Ayto|publisher= A&C Black|date=1 January 2009|isbn=9781408101605 }}

|-

! Latin (Ecclesiastical)

| {{IPA|la|{{nowrap|aˈlumnus}}|}} || {{IPA|la|{{nowrap|aˈlumna}}|}} || {{IPA|la|{{nowrap|aˈlumni}}|}} || {{IPA|la|{{nowrap|aˈlumne}}|}}

|}

In Latin, {{lang|la|alumnus}} is a legal term (Roman law) to describe a child placed in fosterage.For example, Digest 40, 2, 14 According to John Boswell, the word "is nowhere defined in relation to status, privilege, or obligation."{{sfn|Boswell|1988|pp=116}} 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."{{sfn|Boswell|1988|pp=117–119}}

An alumnus or alumna is a former student or a graduate of an educational institution (school, college, university).[http://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=alumnus The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language] According to the United States Department of Education, the term alumnae is used in conjunction with either women's colleges{{cite web|url=http://www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/PLLI/webreprt.html |title=Archived: Women's Colleges in the United States: History, Issues, and Challenges |publisher=Ed.gov |access-date=2011-02-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060815124724/http://www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/PLLI/webreprt.html |archive-date=2006-08-15 }} 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.{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alumni |title=alumni – Definitions from Dictionary.com |publisher=Dictionary.reference.com |access-date=2011-02-15}}

The term is sometimes informally shortened to "alum" (optional plural "alums").{{Cite web |title=Dictionary.com {{!}} Meanings & Definitions of English Words |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/alum |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=Dictionary.com |language=en}} This is increasingly being used more formally as a gender-neutral alternative. However, and for this latter purpose, the option "alumn" and "alumns" are also used in some institutions in Australia, Europe and the UK. Accessed 22/03/2023: Australia:

https://lincoln.edu.au/alumn_new/

https://robbcollege.com/robb-academics

Europe & UK:

https://www.ecchr.eu/en/case/alumn-network/

https://ju.se/en/alumni/winners-alumn-of-the-year-2023.html

https://www.oulu.fi/en/cooperation/alumni-activities/alumn-year

https://www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk/tags/alumn

America:

https://ischool.umd.edu/alumni/distinguished-alumni-awards/ (Alumn of the Year)

The words "alum/alums" and "alumn/alumns" (pronounced with a silent "n") are both pronounced with the accent on the second syllable (al-UM), as opposed to the chemical compound alum and its plural, "alums" (pron. AL-um). "alum". Cambridge dictionary https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/alum

Many universities have alumni offices that coordinate fundraising and offer benefits to registered alumni. Alumni reunions are popular events at many institutions. These may be organized by alumni offices or by alumni associations, and are often social occasions for fundraising. Full membership of alumni associations is sometimes limited just to graduates rather than all alumni, e.g. at Harvard University.{{cite web|url=https://alumni.harvard.edu/community/about-haa|title=About the Harvard Alumni Association|website=Harvard Alumni Association|access-date=17 August 2023|quote=Members of the HAA include recipients of all degrees granted by the University and Radcliffe College, as well as the members of all University faculties. Others whose names appear on the alumni records of the University, but who have not received degrees, are associate members and program participants. They may attend meetings and take part in any activities of the HAA but may not vote for Overseers of the University or directors of the HAA.}} Universities with validation agreements may limit some alumni benefits to graduates who studied at that university rather than at validated institutions.{{cite web|url=https://www.durham.ac.uk/study/scholarships/alumni/|title=Alumni Fee Scholarship 2024-25|website=Durham University|at=Eligibility|access-date=5 December 2023}}

In British English, the terms "old boy" or "old girl" are often preferred for a former pupil of a primary or secondary school, while universities refer to their former students as alumni.{{cite web |url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/old-boy |title=old boy - noun |author= |date= |website=www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=9 January 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/old-girl |title=old girl - noun |author= |date= |website=www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=16 August 2023}}

Some universities, including the University of Cambridge, the University of California, San Francisco and Yale University, include former postdoctoral researchers as alumni, in recognition of the trainee status of such positions.{{cite web|url=https://www.cam.ac.uk/news/alumni-benefits-extended-to-thousands-of-former-researchers|title= Alumni benefits extended to thousands of former researchers|website=University of Cambridge|date=10 June 2015}}{{cite web|url=https://postdocs.ucsf.edu/alumni|title=Alumni|website=UCSF Office for Postdoctoral Scholars|access-date=16 August 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://postdocs.yale.edu/postdocs/leaving-yale|title=Leaving Yale|website=Yale University Office for Postdoctoral Affairs|access-date=16 August 2023}} Others, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, consider them 'associate alumni', without full access to alumni benefits.{{cite magazine|url=https://web.mit.edu/fnl/volume/262/sive_etal.html|magazine=MIT Faculty Newsletter|author1=Hazel Sive|author2= Claude Canizares|author3= Maria Zuber|title=The Status of MIT's Postdoctoral Researchers|volume=XXVI|issue=2|date=November 2013}}

• :Category:Alumni by educational institution
• Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900
• Alumni Oxonienses: The Members of the University of Oxford

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Boswell |first=John |author-link=John Boswell |title=The Kindness of Strangers:The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance |location=New York |publisher=Pantheon |year=1988 |isbn= 9780226067124 }}

• {{wiktionary-inline}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Academic terminology