alumni

American  

[uh-luhm-nahy] / əˈlʌm naɪ /

noun

1. the plural of alumnus.

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Usage

Plural word for alumni Alumni is the plural form of the singular noun alumnus. The plurals of several other words ending in -us are also formed in this way, such as fungus/fungi and cactus/cacti. Irregular plurals that are formed like alumni derive directly from their original pluralization in Latin. Specifically, alumnus is the masculine singular form in Latin and alumni is the masculine plural form. The feminine singular form in Latin is alumna and the feminine plural form is alumnae. Sometimes, this distinction is carried over into English. However, alumnus and alumni are both commonly used in a gender-neutral way in English.Alumni is sometimes treated as a singular noun. However, this is not considered valid in standard English, and alumni should be treated as a plural form.

Example Sentences

College alumni established booster clubs to recruit athletes under the guise of “name, image and likeness,” or NIL, endorsement deals.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Are you going to go after alumni who have been calling it Memorial Stadium? No. So you didn’t focus on that. You focused on people that could be more impressionable, and it worked.”

From Los Angeles Times

When he visited the campus in 2006, he came across a list of the top 50 alumni—and he wasn’t on it.

From The Wall Street Journal

The money has helped launch defense and aerospace startups across Southern California founded by SpaceX alumni and other entrepreneurs.

From Los Angeles Times

Dozens of SpaceX alumni have gone on to found aerospace, artificial intelligence and companies in other fields in Southern California.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• alum
• alumna