Other forms: alumni
An alumnus is a former student of a school or university. A distinguished alumnus, an alumnus of the college, alumnus relations.
The Latin endings are kept: alumnus for a man, alumna for a woman, alumni and alumnae in the plural, and alum is the informal form that avoids the whole problem. The word is chiefly American, where alumni giving is a serious source of university money. Note that the Latin means a nourished one, a foster child.
1nounalumnusA former student of a school or university.
“He is an alumnus of the university and often returns to give lectures.”
alumnus is a former student.
Also accepted in games: alumni, alum, graduate
Latin alumnus means a foster child or nourished one, from alere, to nourish. Aliment and adult come from the same nourishing.
Proto-Indo-European
*h₂el- (grow)
Latin
alumnus
English, today
alumnus
Learned borrowing from Latin alumnus. Latin alumnus (“foster child, nourished one”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA