Alumni (sg.: alumnus (MASC) or alumna (FEM)) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (sg.: alum) or alumns (sg.: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. The word comes from Latin, meaning nurslings, pupils or foster children, derived from alere "to nourish". 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 members of an organization, former contributors, or former inmates. Source: Wikipedia (en)