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Is it acceptable to use alum for alumnus or alumna?
The words that we have used to refer to people who have attended or graduated from a school, college, or university have changed a bit over the past several centuries. Traditionally, the word alumnus has been used to refer to a single male, whereas alumna has been used for a single woman. Initially the plural forms were alumni to refer to multiple men (or multiple men and women) and alumnae for multiple women. A little over a hundred years ago the shortened form of alum began to be used to describe a graduate or past attendee of either gender. Although many people feel that alum is informal, it is in increasing use, and we appear to be moving toward a greater acceptance of the word. The plural of alum is alums.
Examples of alum in a Sentence
Hannah Sacks, People.com, 29 Apr. 2025
Former four-year Cleveland catcher Chris Gimenez also makes the rounds, as do fellow alums like Ben Broussard and Jason Kipnis.
—Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025
Island Green has also backed Impulse Space, the startup of another SpaceX alum, Tom Mueller, who was one of the rocket maker’s first employees and lead engineer on its rocket.
—John Hyatt, Forbes.com, 28 Apr. 2025
The Bonita Vista High School alum, who played in several San Diego groups as a teenager, was inducted into the hall in 2017 as a member of Pearl Jam, the Seattle band whose lineup features two other former San Diegans.
—George Varga, Mercury News, 28 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for alum
Cite this Entry
“Alum.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alum. Accessed 6 May. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
alum
noun
called also potassium alum
called also ammonia alum, ammonium alum
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