alumnus

noun alum·nus \ ə-ˈləm-nəs \

Definition of alumnus

plural alumni play \-ˌnī\

1 :a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university

an alumnus of Columbia University

—usually used of a man in the singular but often of men and women in the plural

2 :a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate

a Saturday Night Live alumnus

See alumnus defined for English-language learners

See alumnus defined for kids

Examples of alumnus in a Sentence

Her parents are alumni of the state university.

Recent Examples of alumnus from the Web

The alumnus of El Paso’s Irvin High School enlisted in the Navy in 1997.

— jeff karoub, The Seattle Times, "Navy IDs dead, missing sailors from the USS John McCain," 24 Aug. 2017
The head of the school’s alumni association, R. Lee Robertson Jr., sent an email Tuesday morning to fellow alums warning them that the school was likely to inform current students of the closure later in the day.

— shahien nasiripour, Bloomberg.com, "An Embattled For-Profit Law School Is Reportedly Shutting Down," 15 Aug. 2017
That decision has angered the founder of an activist group of Samford University students, alumni and faculty that support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights issues.

— greg garrison, AL.com, "LGBT activist to Samford University: don't block student group," 13 July 2017
In 2015, the group allowed women to join, in part due to pressure from the school's administration, and was met with blowback from the alumni community.

— caroline hallemann, Town & Country, "Harvard's Fox Club Is All-Male Once Again," 5 July 2017
Reece and Thomas are both alumni of Withrow University High School.

— Cincinnati.com, "Withrow girls track/field team recognized at Statehouse," 30 June 2017
A previous $10 million donation from the alumnus assisted in the construction of the college's $26.5 million state-of-the-art music and theater venue named Wentz Concert Hall.

— Naperville Sun, "North Central College science center to be named after alumnus Wentz," 29 June 2017
The three-week program was designed by the Johnson sisters, both Ransom Everglades alumni, in collaboration with professional swimming instructors.

— adrianne richardson, miamiherald, "Miami-Dade Homeless Trust names winners in 2017 poster and essay contest," 27 June 2017
Meanwhile, Fox alumni Greta van Susteren was seen as someone who could book big Washington guests from the Republican side of the aisle.

— vanityfair.com, VanityFair.com, "Can Megyn Kelly Outrun Her NBC “Nightmare”?," 27 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'alumnus.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Alumnus or Alumna?

Many people are comfortable using the word alumni to refer to someone who was a student of a particular school. However, others feel quite strongly that this is an error and that the following forms should be used: alumnus (for one male), alumni (for multiple males, or for a mix of males and females), alumna (for one female), and alumnae (for multiple females). The shortened form alum and its plural form alums began to be used in the 19th century. Initially, alum was widely viewed as highly colloquial or informal, but is increasing in use as a gender-neutral alternative.

Origin and Etymology of alumnus

Latin, foster son, pupil, from alere to nourish — more at old

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1645

See Words from the same year

Other Education Terms

baccalaureate, colloquium, corequisite, dissertation, monograph, pedant, practicum, survey course, thesis

ALUMNUS Defined for Kids

alumnus

noun alum·nus \ ə-ˈləm-nəs \

Definition of alumnus for Students

plural alumni \-ˌnī\

:a person who has attended or has graduated from a school, college, or university

Learn More about alumnus

Spanish Central: Translation of alumnus Nglish: Translation of alumnus for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of alumnus for Arabic speakers

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Definition of alumnus

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Alumnus or Alumna?

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