alma mater

alma mater

See also: Alma Mater

English

Etymology

From Latin alma māter (literally “nourishing mother”). Derives from the full name ("Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna") of the oldest European university, the University of Bologna, founded in 1088.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌælmə ˈmeɪtə(ɹ)/, /ˌælmə ˈmɑːtə(ɹ)/, /ˌɑːlmə ˈmɑːtə(ɹ)/

Noun

alma mater (plural almae matres or alma maters)

1. A school, college or university from which an individual has graduated or which he or she has attended.
   • 2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Evesham (1870)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 58:

     I'm in the place where I grew up, where my alma mater is.

2. A school's anthem or song.

Related terms

• alimentary
• alimony
• alumnus
• mater
• maternal
• maternity
• matriculate

 

Translations

graduated school

Arabic: الجامعة الأم‎ Catalan: alma mater (ca) f Chinese: Cantonese: 母校 (mou5 haau6) Mandarin: 母校 (zh) (mǔxiào) Danish: please add this translation if you can Dutch: alma mater f Finnish: alma mater (fi) French: alma mater (fr) f Galician: alma máter f German: Alma Mater (de) f Indonesian: almamater (id) Japanese: 母校 (ja) (ぼこう, bokō), アルマ・マータ (aruma-māta) Korean: 모교(母校) (ko) (mogyo) Polish: Alma Mater (pl) f Portuguese: alma mater f Russian: а́льма-ма́тер (ru) f (álʹma-mátɛr) Spanish: please add this translation if you can Tagalog: inang diwa Turkish: tahsil (tr) Uyghur: ئانا مەكتەپ‎ (ana mektep)

school anthem

Chinese: Mandarin: 校歌 (zh) (xiàogē) Danish: please add this translation if you can Finnish: koulun laulu Japanese: 校歌 (ja) (kōka) Portuguese: hino da escola m Spanish: please add this translation if you can

---

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin alma māter (“feeding mother”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɑl.maː ˈmaː.tɛr/, /ˌɑl.maː ˈmaː.tər/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: al‧ma ma‧ter

Noun

alma mater f (plural almae matres or alma maters)

1. alma mater (university one attended, especially one from which one has graduated)

---

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈal.ma ˈmaː.ter/, [ˈäɫ̪mä ˈmäːt̪ɛr]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈal.ma ˈma.ter/, [ˈälmä ˈmäːt̪er]

Noun

alma māter f (genitive almae mātris); third declension

1. (Ancient Rome) mother goddess
2. (Medieval Christianity) Virgin Mary

Declension

First-declension adjective with a third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	alma māter	almae mātrēs
Genitive	almae mātris	almārum mātrum
Dative	almae mātrī	almīs mātribus
Accusative	almam mātrem	almās mātrēs
Ablative	almā mātre	almīs mātribus
Vocative	alma māter	almae mātrēs

---

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin alma māter.

Noun

alma mater f (invariable)

1. a person who provides for another
2. homeland (place where one was born)
3. alma mater (school or college from which an individual has graduated)

---

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin alma māter.

Noun

alma mater f (plural alma mater)

1. alma mater

Further reading

• “alma mater”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014