A female graduate or former student of a school, college, or university.
From Latin alumna (feminine of alumnus, 'foster child' or 'student'), from alere 'to nourish.' The feminine form was adopted into English to distinguish female graduates.
Schools love using 'alumna' and 'alumnus' because the Latin terms sound prestigious—and they let you specify whether you're talking about women or men, though many people now use 'alum' for everyone.
Latin feminine form of 'alumnus' (foster son/pupil). Standard usage distinguishes alumna (woman graduate) from alumnus (man graduate), creating gender-marked categories in institutional language.
Use 'alumnus/a' or 'alum' as gender-neutral singular; use 'alumnae' (plural) and 'alumni' (plural, or gender-inclusive) flexibly; modern usage increasingly treats 'alumni' as gender-neutral plural.
["alum","alumnx","graduate"]
Women's educational inclusion has been systematic only since the mid-20th century; 'alumna' marks women's historical exclusion from universities. Contemporary usage reclaims this term as a marker of women's hard-won institutional participation.
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