{{redirect|Old girl|the Australian Rules Football ground|Victoria Park, Melbourne}}
{{redirect|Alumni|the Argentine football team|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." <ref>http://www.bartleby.com/61/57/A0235700.html</ref> In addition, an '''alumna''' (pl. alumnae) is "a female graduate or former student of a school, college, or university." <ref>http://www.bartleby.com/61/56/A0235600.html</ref>

==Origin==

In [[Latin grammar]], [[Latin grammar#Nouns|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). <ref>http://www.geocities.com/email_theguy/newportweb/rlatin.htm</ref>, <ref>http://www.townonline.com/hingham/homepage/x333319934 </ref>

==Usage==
As indicated in the ''[[American Heritage Dictionary]]'', an alumnus or alumna is either someone who has attended the school (or a "former student of a school") or someone who has graduated from the school.<ref>http://www.bartleby.com/61/57/A0235700.html</ref><ref>http://www.bartleby.com/61/56/A0235600.html</ref> Furthermore, according to [[Reference.com|dictionary.reference.com]] and the [[United States Department of Education]], the term ''alumnae'' is used either in conjunction with [[women's colleges]]<ref>http://www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/PLLI/webreprt.html</ref> 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. Some 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.<ref>http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alumni</ref>

The term is sometimes shortened to alum which stands for "an alumna or alumnus."<ref>"alum." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1). Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. [[1 December]] [[2006]]. <Dictionary.com> http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alum</ref>

The plural alumni is often erroneously used as a singular form for both genders; for example, ''"I am an alumni of Georgia Tech,"'' as opposed to ''"I am an alumnus/alumna of Georgia Tech."'' This is likely due to a lack of understanding of Latin grammar and the fact that printed documents and university merchandise almost always use the plural form of the word.

Alumni [[Class Reunion|reunion]]s are popular events at many institutions. They are usually organized by [[alumni association]]s and are often social occasions for [[fundraising]].

==Related terms==
At most [[Independent School (UK)|public schools]], New Zealand schools, and a few universities in the UK, and to a lesser extent in [[Australia]] (who use the term "former student") and [[Canada]], the phrases '''[[Old boy network|old boy]]''' and '''old girl''' are traditionally used for former school pupils, and '''old member''' (or "alumni" in New Zealand) for former university students. At the [[Royal Military College of Canada]], the phrases '''former cadet''' and member of the '''old brigade''' are traditionally used as are college numbers. Another example is the term '''old corps''', in reference to alumni from the [[Virginia Military Institute]].

Some will use a specific term clearly linked to the school name, such as ''Old Etonian'' or ''Old Silcoatian'' (alumni of [[Eton College]] and [[Silcoates School]]), or a more obscure one, such as ''Old Citizen'' and ''Old Gregorian'' for those of the [[City of London School]] and [[Downside School]].

In Scotland, the term '''former pupil''' (FP) is also used, especially when referring to sports teams of a school. Some U.S. schools, most notably [[Texas A&M University]], also prefer '''former student'''.

==Footnotes==
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==See also==
{{wiktionary}}
* [[Alma mater]]
* [[Old boy network]]
* [[Alumni association]]

[[Category:Academia]]

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==External links==
* [http://www.alumni.net/ Alumni.net]