alumnus

UK: /əˈlʌmnəs/ US: /əˈlʌmnəs/ ,(ə lum′nəs)

Inflections of 'alumnus' (n): npl: alumni

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

a•lum•nus /əˈlʌmnəs/   n. [countable] , pl. -ni /-naɪ, -ni/ .

1. Education a graduate or former student of a specific school, college, or university.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

a•lum•nus  (ə lum′nəs), n., pl. -ni (-nī, -nē). 

1. Education a graduate or former student of a specific school, college, or university.
2. a former associate, employee, member, or the like:
   He invited all the alumni of the library staff to the party.

• stem-vowel *-o- in interior syllable) + -m(i)nus, origin, originally passive participial suffix (compare adult, old), akin to Greek -menos; see phenomenon
• Latin: foster son, pupil, equivalent. to al- (stem of alere to feed, support) + -u- (
• 1635–45

Usage

Alumnus (in Latin a masculine noun) refers to a male graduate or former student; the plural is alumni. An alumna (in Latin a feminine noun) refers to a female graduate or former student; the plural is alumnae. Traditionally, the masculine plural alumni has been used for groups composed of both sexes and is still widely so used:
the alumni of Indiana University.
Sometimes, to avoid any suggestion of sexism, both terms are used for mixed groups: the alumni/alumnae of Indiana University or the alumni and alumnae of Indiana University. While not quite equivalent in meaning, the terms graduate and graduates avoid the complexities of the Latin forms and eliminate any need for using a masculine plural form to refer to both sexes.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

alumnus / əˈlʌmnəs/ noun ( -ni / -naɪ/)

1. a graduate of a school, college, etc

Etymology: 17th Century: from Latin: nursling, pupil, foster son, from alere to nourish