alma mater

noun

al·​ma ma·​ter ˌal-mə-ˈmä-tər 

1

: a school, college, or university which one has attended or from which one has graduated

went to a class reunion at his alma mater

2

: the song or hymn of a school, college, or university

"Hey, Harvard boy, sing your alma mater!" shouted an obnoxious producer.

—Phil Kloer

Examples of alma mater in a Sentence

I visited my old alma mater last week.

Recent Examples on the Web

In 1995, Cárdenas left the University of Texas to join his alma mater, Notre Dame, as a professor, assistant provost and as the founding director of its Institute for Latino Studies. — Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 13 Aug. 2026

Among academic institutions, Zhejiang University (the alma mater of DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng), moved into first place, with Harvard falling to second. — Mia Osmonbekov, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2026

Salinger, then seventy-six, seemed to think his assessment of his alma mater had been too saccharine. — Literary Hub, 10 Aug. 2026

Aronow largely runs operations out of her Brooklyn apartment, in between her day job leading the internship program and working as an adjunct professor at her alma mater, the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. — Selena Fragassi, SPIN, 10 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Latin, fostering mother

First Known Use

1650, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for alma mater

• imprimatur
• underwater
• auteur
• blotter
• cotter
• daughter
• hotter
• otter
• plotter
• rotter
• slaughter
• spotter

Kids Definition

alma mater

noun

al·​ma ma·​ter ˌal-mə-ˈmät-ər 

: a school, college, or university that one has attended

Etymology

Latin, literally "fostering mother," from almus "nourishing" (from alire "to nourish") and mater "mother" — related to alimentary, maternal