Alumnus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
? Ten things you may not know about images on Wikipedia ?Jump to: navigation, search
?Old girl? redirects here. For the Australian Rules Football ground, see Victoria Park, Melbourne.
?Alumni? redirects here. For the Argentine football team, see Alumni Athletic Club.
An alumnus (pl. alumni) according to the American Heritage Dictionary is "a male graduate or former student of a school, college, or university." [1] In addition, an alumna (pl. alumnae) is "a woman graduate or former student of a school, college, or university." [2]
Contents [hide]
1 Origin
2 Usage
3 Related terms
4 Footnotes
5 See also
6 External Links
[edit] Origin
In Latin grammar, nouns are constructed according to case, gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter), and number (singular or plural). The Latin word, "alumnus" thus has four forms in the nominative case: ?alumnus? (masculine, singular), ?alumna? (feminine, singular), ?alumni? (masculine, plural), and ?alumnae? (feminine, plural). [3], [4]
[edit] Usage
As indicated in the American Heritage Dictionary, an alumnus/alumna is either someone who has attended the school (or a "former student of a school") or someone who has graduated from the school.[5][6] Furthermore, according to dictionary.reference.com and the United States Department of Education, the term alumnae is used either in conjunction with women's colleges[7] or a female group of students. The term alumni is used either in conjunction with men's colleges, a male group of students, or a mixed group of students:
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 [...] coeducational institutions usually use alumni for graduates of both sexes. But those who object to masculine forms in such cases may prefer the phrase alumni and alumnae or the form alumnae/i, which is the choice of many women's colleges that have begun to admit men.[8]
The term is sometimes shortened to alum which stands for "an alumna or alumnus."[9]
Alumni reunions are popular events at many institutions. They are usually organized by alumni associations and are often social occasions for fundraising.
Recently, the definition of "alumni" has expanded to include people who have departed from any kind of organization or program. As such, one can potentially be a "corporate alum" of XYZ Company, or an alum of a military branch, non-profit organization, fraternities and sororities, or training pro
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alumnus
