Its from latin and common enough that alumnuses is going to get you a side eye but you run the risk of coming across as undereducated if you use the plural form for a single person that said, its a minor bit of grammar in a. Graduates or former students of a particular educational institution. And for a group of female graduates, you can use the plural alumnae. If a group of former students comprises both men and women, the men and women are alumni.
And check out our books about the english language. Alumni is for plural graduates who are all men or a mixed group of men and women. The history of alum, alumnus, alumna, alumni, and alumnae. Ap style alumnus, alumni, alumna, and alumnae writing. Alumni and alumnae are two words sourced from latin, just as alumnus and alumna, which are often used in a wrong way. In accordance with the rules of grammar governing the inflexion of nouns in the romance. Alumna definition, a woman who is a graduate or former student of a specific school, college, or university. Theyre hard enough to remember, but then you also have to contend with alums versus alumni for mixed groups of graduates.
Normality is centuries older, though, and many english authorities consider it the superior form, for what thats worth. Alumnus is used to refer to a male graduate or former student. Consider the way in which the word alumni is used in the following sentence. I wrote about the words alum and alumni in some of my grammar girl books, ive. Using the information above can help to ensure that you dont mix up these similar words with latin endings. So i am an alumna of the university of washington in seattle and an alumna of stanford university. Alumni plural of alumnus people who have attended and graduated. If you want to avoid this whole mess but wheres the fun in not showing off your knowledge, use alum in place of alumnus and alumna and alums in. One way to remember the difference between these four words is to think of other words in english with similar endings. Separate, but from the same root, is the adjective almus nourishing, found in the phrase alma mater, a title for a persons home university.
Nouns ending in cy usually come from adjectives ending in tfor example, pregnancy from pregnant, complacency from complacent, hesitancy from hesitantwhile adjectives ending in l usually take the ity suffix. These latin loanwords preserve their original plural forms, and incorrect use of the words abounds because many speakers of english. Difference between alumni and alumnus difference between. Alumnus is used when the gender of the subject is unspecified. Alumni is the plural noun for a group of male graduates or male and female graduates. How to use alumna, alumnae, alumni, alumnus correctly. The alumnus of the year leadership award is presented to an individual who. Alumnus definition in the cambridge english dictionary. Altrincham grammar school for girls is aiming to create a network of former students. And what about the related words alumna, alumnus, and alumnae. The difference between alumnus and alumni is very basic as the latter is the plural form of the former.
The latin term for a former school is alma mater, meaning nourishing mother. Alumni is the plural of alumnus and means male graduates or a mixture of both male and female graduates. Secondly, it is ironic how people manage to graduate from college without knowing the proper usage of alumni along its singular form alumnus. Alternative spelling of alumalumnus a graduate of a college or university archaic a student at a grammar school. Alumna, alumnae, alumni, alumnusdont confuse them grammarly. But unlike alumnae, which refers to a group of women only, alumni can be gender neutral. Alumnae is the plural of alumna and means female graduates. Whats up with alumnus, alumna, alumni, and alumnae. Alumni article about alumni by the free dictionary. The word in singular form, of course is unlikely to be used, for example, in the education section of an employment resume. Alumna, alumnae, alumni, alumnus alumni is a plural noun referring either to a group male graduates or to a group of both male and female graduates.
Francis honored stokes by naming a new field house after its most famous alumnus at the beginning of the second year, brother bergson asked a young alumnus to be the housefather for the year the fact that the government employee in question is a mckinsey alumnus does not allay any of my concerns a former house budget chairman and fox news alumnus, kasich was a libertarian leaning. Its from latin and common enough that alumnuses is going to get you a side eye but you run the risk of coming across as undereducated if you use the plural form for a single person. Alumna is used to refer to a woman graduate or former student. Alumnus i absolutely love the dictionary, and their weekly teachings about words. Thats because latin grammar has a lot more distinctions based on gender than english grammar does. The noun alumnus means a male graduate or former student of a particular university, college, or school. An alumnus or an alumna of a college, university, or other school is a former student who has. As a verb graduate is ergative to be recognized by a school or university as having completed the requirements of a. These latin loanwords preserve their original plural forms, and incorrect use of. Alumnus definition is a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university usually used of a man in the singular but often of men and women in the plural. Alum versus alumni grammar girl quick and dirty tips.
Alumnae are important partners in the continued success of the girls club. The group, founded in 2015, with the help of various foundations, sponsors the education of 116 girls almost a third of the student. Alumni meaning in the cambridge english dictionary. Lgs, lghs and gsal the grammar school at leeds alumni have achieved outstanding success in a range of diverse fields. Note that, strictly speaking, alumnus and alumni are masculine. Oct 14, 2016 alumnus, alumna, alumni, and alumnus are all from latin.
It is also accepted as a term for a malefemale group of former students. Latin words construct their different forms using other rules as used in the english language. Never use the phrase i am an alumni it is incorrect. A male graduate is an alumnus, a female graduate is an alumna. Alumni is the most common of the four words by more than double.
Maybe youre at an allgirls school, or maybe the boys in the class all. Difference between alumni and alumnae samsung galaxy blog. Alumnus, alumna, alumni, and alumnus are all from latin. As of 2011, alumni also have received more than 35 national book awards and 123 pulitzer. Concerned alumni initiated an organized campaign to restore the orgo night show by publishing a series of pamphlets addressing the issues. I consider alumni in the title to be inappropriate. Can someone explain the correct use of the terms alumni.
Alumnae plural of alumna females that have graduated. Alumnus is defined as a graduate of a school, college, or university. Coeducational institutions usually use alumni for graduates of both sexes. Oct 12, 2011 hi, when i see alumni, its often in a context of fundraising for the university. Is an active supporter of scms and the alumni association. Mar 24, 2014 if you want to avoid this whole mess but wheres the fun in not showing off your knowledge, use alum in place of alumnus and alumna and alums in lieu of alumni and alumnae. But those who object to masculine forms in such cases may prefer the phrase alumni and alumnae or the form alumnaei, which is the choice of many womens colleges. The words alumnus, alumna and alumni are often confused. Ms chastains column, which was published on world net daily, claimed the organisation was touting ms ocasiocortez as a successful girl scout alumni. We are therefore delighted to let you know that we are now working with the charity future first to help to strengthen the. This week the dictionary looks at the words alumni and alumnus. The word in singular form, of course is unlikely to be used, for example, in the education section of. We used to have alumnus male singular, alumni male plural, alumna female singular and alumnae female.
The princeton alumni weekly named turing the second most significant alumnus in the history of princeton university, second only to president james madison. Its considered a latin term, rather than an english term that derives from latin. Borrowed from latin alumnus literally foster child, nourished one. Normality and normalcy are different forms of the same word. Hi, when i see alumni, its often in a context of fundraising for the university. The university of chicago magazine issn00419508 is published quarterly by the university of chicago in cooperation with the alumni association. Noun head the alumni of this university include many famous artists and politicians an individual alumnus or alumna.
Oct 18, 2019 an alum is short for a mail or female graduate, either alumnus masculine or alumna feminine. A fellow equissage alumnus is the massage therapist for cigar, the 1996 horse of the year. As nouns the difference between alumni and graduate is that alumni is while graduate is senseid a person who is recognized by a university as having completed the requirements of a degree studied at the institution. The most famous alumni of school is vikas jain who is one of the prominent analysts in financial community globally. The plural form for graduates and other former matriculated students is alumni. Demonstrates the ideals of the credit union philosophy. My sisters are both alumnae of atherton high school. Alumni refers to more than one alumnus think of a graduating class. Youll remember that a couple of weeks ago, i had a piece from neal whitman about homecoming being called hoco, and neal was also kind enough to point out that. Even though alumni is the plural of the alumnus, which is male, it is used quite often to refer to a group of graduates that are both male and female.
Thats a lot of forms, not to mention a pretty complicated gender breakdown. Alumni is the plural of alumnus male and alumna female. Many words are exactly as they are in the ancient languages and some are borrowed with minor changes. The singular is alumnus for men and alumna for women. The 1999 alumni of memorial university are invited to attend a luncheon in honor of the retirement of dr. Though modern times have changed it to mean graduates of an institution which could be either male or. Alumni is the masculine plural, and alumnae is the feminine plural.
Ap style alumnus, alumni, alumna, and alumnae writing explained. Alumnus means foster son, pupil, or to nourish in latin. Turns out theres a slightly different word for women. Jun 30, 2008 alumnus is a masculine noun whose plural is alumni, and alumna is a feminine noun whose plural is alumnae. As an alum of ottawa hill scouts, betsy is always welcome to attend our events.
Alumni actually is the plural form of alumnus, a latin word that means a graduate or former student of an educational institution. As an adjective graduate is graduated, arranged by degrees. Download the dictionary app today and you can be educating yourself. As any dictionary will tell us, an alumnus is a graduate of a school, college, or university. As the previous answers have indicated alumnaae is rarely seen in the uk, except for some old girls associations where they want to show they know the difference. Notable alumni gsal, the grammar school at leeds, lgs and lghs.
Edward newton, a magnificent farce and other diversions of a book. Alumni is the plural of alumnus but can also be used to refer to a group of men and woman graduatesformer students. Not sure what my point is though just that latinsgreeks use of an s on singular nouns is confusing. Current students and alumni are invited to submit nominations for the 2020 scms alumnus of the year.
The plural is alumni for men or mixed groups and alumnae for women. Technically, alumni is the masculine plural form of the noun, but it can be used for either a group of mixed gender or a group of men. The english language has borrowed heavily from latin, sanskrit and later french. Alumni refers to a group of two or more former students of a particular school. At first i thought this topic was too narrow to deserve a whole podcast.
Hintus is usually an ending of masculine names and words, such as cassius, jesus and alumnus. Although alumnus usually refers to academics, it can also mean a former employee, associate, or member of any organized group. The graduate was a woman, and the title on the page was alumni profile followed by her name. Alumni is the plural form of alumnus, obviously meaning a group of male graduates of an institution. Alumna definition is a girl or woman who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university. Ap style uses alumnus when referring to a man who has attended a school. Alumnus is a masculine noun whose plural is alumni, and alumna is a feminine noun whose plural is alumnae. My friend is a grammar geek and will not put her child in something with improper english. Alumnus definition and meaning collins english dictionary. The latin plural alumni also occurs sometimes in swedish texts. Two similar words, both used in daily context, but alumni is used more, and does have a different meaning.
The singular alumnus refers to one male graduate, alumna refers to one female graduate, and the plural alumnae refers to a group of female graduates. We believe that your connection to your school should not end when you leave, and we would like all our past pupils to keep in touch. The alumni of a school, college, or university are the people who used to be students. Alumni is a plural noun referring either to a group male graduates or to a group of both male and female graduates. Notable alumni gsal, the grammar school at leeds, lgs. If we can see all the deserving girls complete their studies without any financial issues, we would have achieved our goals, says sheila mugadimunyiri, pangani girls alumni association steering committee member. Alumnus is known as the latin word used for a singular graduate of an institution usually a male. An alumna is a female graduate or former student of a particular school. Alumna is also a latin word, meaning, a woman graduate or former student of a school, college, or university. An alum is short for a mail or female graduate, either alumnus masculine or alumna feminine. If it is confusing to some, the reason is the two words being latin. Ap style holds that writers should distinguish between the words alumnus, alumni, alumna, and alumnae. The university of chicago magazine 5235 south harper court, chicago, il 60615 phone.
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