Inside Latin, alumnus is the masculine singular form & alum a feminine singular form. (A words come from either a Latin verb alere, "to nourish," & literally mean "nourished one" or even "nursling.") Although these terms come recommended by leading English-language dictionaries, their use may be limited because it is gender-specific. A Latin plural form is alumni for men & mixed groups & alumnae for women. A gender-neutral English term alum/alumn, created by clipping the ending from alumna, is besides utilized, along using its plural alums/alumns.

Recently, a definition of "alum" has expanded to include humans world health organization develop "matriculated at" or even even exited from either any sort of organization or run. When such, the single might possibly exist as a "corporate alum" of XYZ Company, or even an alum of the military branch, non-profit organization, or how to training run.

Training institutions tend to watch Latin usage: graduate for males, graduate for females, & alumni for mixed groups. Tons-women colleges apply alumnus & alumnae. Occasionally institutions, like Texas A&M University, do not refer to their graduates as "alumni" or even "graduates," choosing to use the term former students.

In the United Kingdom, the phrases old son & old girl come traditionally utilized for previous school pupils, & old member for previous college student. A term old student might now refer to the graduates of either schools or even universities.