Is it alum or alumna?

An alumnus is one male graduate. An alumna is one female graduate. And for a group of female graduates, you can use the plural alumnae. Finally, alum is for one non-gender specific graduate and alums is a gender-neutral group of graduates.

Is alum grammatically correct?

Alum. The word “alum” is an informal reference to either a male or female graduate. “Alums” refers to a group of graduates that can be all male, all female or mixed. While this slang is fine for casual conversation, most grammar experts recommend using the proper Latin names in professional settings.

Is it alum or alumni or alumna?

Traditionally, "alumnus" refers specifically to a singular male graduate and "alumni" is the plural form for a group of male graduates and for a group of male and female graduates. Meanwhile, the term for singular female graduates is the lesser spotted "alumna", and "alumnae" refers to a group of female-only graduates.

Do I call myself an alum or alumna?

For an individual graduate, an alumnus is a single male, an alumna is a single female, and an alum is the gender neutral term. For the plurals, alumni refers to multiple male or gender neutral graduates, alumnae is for multiple female grads, and alums is the gender neutral plural.

Can you use alum instead of alumna?

Alumni and alumnus are the preferred plural and singular terms of alumni of any gender. The feminine terms—alumna (singular) and alumnae (plural)—may be used in the context of the publication or the preferences of the subjects. Do not shorten to “alum” or “alums” except in informal communications.

Alumnus - Alumni & Alumna - Alumnae ||What’s the difference? | English Lesson

Who is considered an alum?

What is an Alum? The obvious answer is that an alum is a graduate or a longtime attendee of a particular school, college, or university.

What do you mean by alum?

alum. [ ăl′əm ] Any of various crystalline double salts of a trivalent metal (such as aluminum, chromium, or iron) and a monovalent metal (such as potassium or sodium), especially aluminum potassium sulfate. Alum is widely used in industry as a hardener and purifier, and in medicine as an emetic and to stop bleeding.

Can you call yourself alum if you didn't graduate?

The term is not synonymous with "graduates": people can be alumni without graduating (Burt Reynolds, alumnus but not graduate of Florida State University, is an example).

Is alum an abbreviation for alumni?

Initially the plural forms were alumni to refer to multiple men (or multiple men and women) and alumnae for multiple women. A little over a hundred years ago the shortened form of alum began to be used to describe a graduate or past attendee of either gender.

Can you say alma mater if you didn't graduate?

Alma mater would most often refer to your undergraduate institution in common usage, but strictly speaking it could be the "nourishing mother" of any of your studies, whether you graduated or not. You are only a graduate of a school that has conferred a degree and diploma to you.

How do you say I am an alum?

We used to have “alumnus” (male singular), “alumni” (male plural), “alumna” (female singular) and “alumnae” (female plural); but the latter two are now popular only among older female graduates, with the first two terms becoming unisex.

What do you call the college you graduated from?

Your alma mater is your old school, college or university. It's generally used as a positive term, implying reverence and loyalty for the nurturing qualities of the institution.

Is alumna capitalized?

The feminine terms alumnae and alumna may be used given the context of the publication or the preference of the subject. Do not shorten to "alum." Capitalize alumni as part of a full official name; lowercase otherwise. Capitalize as part of a full official name; lowercase otherwise.

Why is it called alum?

Alum refers to a collection of chemical compounds that are hydrated sulfate salts of aluminum and usually one other metal. Common forms of alum include hydrated potassium aluminum sulfate, ammonium aluminum sulfate, and sodium aluminum sulfate. The different compounds have different functions.

How do you use alum in a sentence?

Her comedian husband, like her, is a "Saturday Night Live" alum. He's an alum of the Chicago Theater Company. He started his own company with a fellow Stanford alum.

Do people use alum?

Alum has been repeatedly shown to be safe for humans. Alum is a common food additive and has also been used for decades to clean our drinking water before consumption.

What is an alum at Harvard?

Alumni (AL) – An alumnus/alumna is defined as an individual who has received a degree from any school at Harvard University or Radcliffe College, including honorary degrees.

What is an alum in high school?

alumnus. noun. alum·​nus ə-ˈləm-nəs. plural alumni -ˌnī : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university.

What is a synonym for the word alum?

Definitions of alum. a person who has received a degree from a school (high school or college or university) synonyms: alumna, alumnus, grad, graduate.

What does alum mean in college?

Britannica Dictionary definition of ALUM. [count] US, informal. : someone who attended or graduated from a particular school, college, or university : alumnus, alumna. a Harvard alum.

Is a dropout an alumnus?

Generally speaking one must graduate to be called alumnus but each institution is different. Some say, some that attended but not graduated are also called alumni.

How long can you call yourself a fresh graduate?

How long are you considered a fresh graduate? The exact timeframe may vary depending on the context and industry, but generally, it can refer to individuals who have graduated within the past year or so. After that, they may be referred to as a “recent graduate” or simply as a professional in their chosen field.

What is alum used for today?

When used as a mordant (binder) in dyeing, it fixes dye to cotton and other fabrics, rendering the dye insoluble. Alums are also used in pickling, in baking powder, in fire extinguishers, and as astringents in medicine.

What are the two types of alum?

What is alum commonly used as?

Alum is most commonly used as coagulants in water treatment. Coagulants used to enlarge the size of the impurities so that they settle down in the sedimentation tanks. Alum is also effective in killing pathogens present in the water. This process is known as Disinfection.