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

Lil Timmy Tim stems from a viral video from 2012 that shows the actor rapping at an event at his alma mater, New York's LaGuardia High School. —Jordana Comiter, PEOPLE, 12 Dec. 2025

With chaos occurring in and around Ann Arbor, former LSU Tigers star defensive back Tyrann Mathieu wrote on social media that Underwood should consider transferring to his alma mater in the Bayou. —Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 11 Dec. 2025

Within years, Paige rose to head coach of Jackson State University, his alma mater and a historically Black college in the Mississippi capital city. —CBS News, 10 Dec. 2025

The engineering graduate also stepped into education as an adjunct professor at her alma mater, SMU, teaching quality management to the next generation of builders. —Essence, 10 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin, fostering mother

First Known Use

1650, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for alma mater

• annunciator
• imprimatur
• underwater
• backwater
• bathwater
• blackwater
• breakwater
• deepwater
• edgewater
• feedwater
• floodwater
• freshwater

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