“Alma mater” is a Latin term meaning “nourishing mother” used to refer to educational institutions or their anthems. It originated as an honorific for nurturing goddesses and was adopted by British universities in the 1700s. It can be used for any institution of higher learning and is often sung at events to show solidarity and belonging.
The term alma mater is Latin for “nourishing mother” and is used in two different ways in modern English. In the first sense, it is an educational institution, classically a college, and in the second sense, it is an anthem or fight song of an educational institution. Usually in the sense of an educational institution, the term is used in reference to an institution that someone has personally attended. When the term is used to describe a hymn, the speaker need not have attended the institution in question.
Originally, the alma mater was used as an honorific for certain Latin goddesses who were considered kind, nurturing, or loving. In the 1700s the term was adopted to refer to British institutions of higher learning and the practice spread to other regions of the world. The University of Bologna, the world’s oldest continuously operating institution, has even integrated the term into its motto, which is alma mater studiorium, or “nurse mother of studies.”
While this term is most commonly used in reference to colleges, some people use it in discussions of high schools, especially private high schools, preparatory schools, and other institutions that are perceived to be more elite than public or mainstream high schools. It is appropriate to refer to any institution of higher learning in this way, whether it has graduated or is still attending.
In the sense of a place of study, this term probably arose as a slang shorthand. Jokes, puns, and Latin epithets were especially popular in the 1700s, and the alma mater isn’t the only one to catch on. The use of Latin in the 1700s was a marker of higher education in Britain, and people used terms like this to emphasize their belonging to the college students’ club community, especially in communities where there was a rivalry between town and dress .
The use of this term to describe a fight song or hymn is more recent, although it refers to the same basic idea of an institution of higher learning as a source of nourishment and knowledge. Many graduates know their colleges’ alma mater and may sing along at sports games and other events to express solidarity with the school and its current and past students. Knowing the words can also increase the sense of belonging.
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