alumnus Latin · revision 31807

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *h₂el-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [aˈɫʊm.nʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [aˈlum.nus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''alumnus''' (feminine alumna, neuter alumnum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ Pacuvius has the old genitive plural ''alumnum''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*alomnos]], [[inh|ine-pro|*h₂el-o-mh₁no-|t=being fed]], the middle present participle of [[ine-pro|*h₂el-|t=to nourish, grow]], the root of [[alō|t=to nourish]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Its ending is the participial suffix seen in Greek [[m|grc|-μενος|tr=-menos]].^(OLD 2012)^(Etymonline) De Vaan gives as cognates of the root [[sga|alid|t=feeds]], [[got|𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌽|tr=alan|t=to grow up]] and [[grc|ἄναλτος|tr=ánaltos|t=insatiable]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008) whose ''Mercator'' has “I am your master and your foster-son”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As a noun it is a nursling or foster-child, in contrast with a natural son, and in the poets a young animal or plant.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It also means a person considered as the product of a country or place, as in Cicero's Italy seeing her own son crucified; a ward or protégé (Curtius); and the pupil or follower of a philosopher, as Aristotle and the others are Plato's.^(OLD 2012) As an adjective it means “reared, fostered”, and in Statius “native”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “pupil, student, one brought up”.^(Stelten 1995) In medieval sources it can mean a client kept in a lord's household, and also a teacher.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a foster-son.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 220–130 BC – Pacuvius has the genitive plural ''alumnum''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of a son of Italy and of Plato's pupils.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1640s – Borrowed into English as [[m|en|alumnus]], “pupil or graduate of a school”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|nursling]], foster-son; a young animal or plant.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A son of a country or place, a native.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A [[m|en|ward]], [[m|en|protégé]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # A [[m|en|pupil]] or follower; a student.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A client kept in a lord's household; a teacher.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Reared, fostered; native.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[alumnor]]

+ * [[alumnulus]]

+ * [[alumna]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[alō]]

+ * [[en|alumnus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}