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The word comes from Latin, meaning nurslings, pupils or foster children, derived from alere "to nourish". [1] The term is not synonymous with "graduates": people can be alumni without graduating, e.g. Burt Reynolds was an alumnus of Florida State University but did not graduate. The term is sometimes used to refer to former employees, former ...
Alma mater (Latin: alma mater; pl.: almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning 'nourishing mother'. It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. [1] [2] [3] The term is related to alumnus, literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a school graduate. [4]
Alumnus may be an english word, but it definitely comes directectly from latin, and the forms adopted (such as plural alumni, or feminine plural alumnae) show that the latin rules continue to apply as they to for other words directly taken from latin.
Some English words of Latin origin do not commonly take the Latin plural, but rather the regular English plurals in -(e)s: campus, bonus, and anus; while others regularly use the Latin forms: radius (radii) and alumnus (alumni).
This is a list of Latin words with derivatives in English (and other modern languages). Ancient orthography did not distinguish between i and j or between u and v. [1] Many modern works distinguish u from v but not i from j. In this article, both distinctions are shown as they are helpful when tracing the origin of English words.
The original meaning was similar to "the game is afoot", but its modern meaning, like that of the phrase "crossing the Rubicon", denotes passing the point of no return on a momentous decision and entering into a risky endeavor where the outcome is left to chance. alenda lux ubi orta libertas: Let light be nourished where liberty has arisen
Meaning Origin language and etymology Example(s) capill-of or pertaining to hair Latin capillus, hair capillus: capit-pertaining to the head as a whole Latin caput, capit-, the head capitation, decapitation carcin-cancer: Greek καρκίνος (karkínos), crab carcinoma: cardi-of or pertaining to the heart: Greek καρδία (kardía), heart ...
The word's true origin is unknown, but it existed in the Middle Scots period. [32] [33] News: The word news has been claimed to be an acronym of the four cardinal directions (north, east, west, and south). However, old spellings of the word varied widely (e.g., newesse, newis, nevis, neus, newys, niewes, newis, nues, etc.).