What is the Latin word for a female graduate of a school or university?

The terms we use for graduates are direct imports from Latin, a language where nouns have grammatical gender. The root word, "alumnus," originally meant "foster son" or "pupil," deriving from the verb *alere*, meaning "to nourish." Following Latin's grammatical rules, the feminine singular form of this noun changes the ending to "-a." This makes "alumna" the correct term for a single female graduate, essentially a "foster daughter" of the institution.

This concept of nourishment is the key to understanding the entire family of words. A person's school or university is often called their "alma mater," which literally translates to "nourishing mother." The graduates, therefore, are the children nurtured by this maternal institution. The gendering also extends to the plural forms, which can be a common point of confusion. A group of male graduates or a mixed-gender group is called "alumni," while a group composed exclusively of female graduates is correctly referred to as "alumnae."

While today you might see the gender-neutral shorthand "alum" used for an individual or "alumni" used as a catch-all for any group of graduates, the original Latin provides a fascinating look at the familial metaphor at the heart of our academic traditions. The school is the mother, and the students are the children she has nourished for success in the wider world.