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alma mater

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al⋅ma ma⋅ter

  [ahl-muh mah-ter, al-; al-muh mey-ter]
–noun
1. a school, college, or university at which one has studied and, usually, from which one has graduated.
2. the official anthem of a school, college, or university.
Use alma mater in a Sentence
Origin:
< L: nourishing (i.e., dear) mother
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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al·ma ma·ter or Al·ma Ma·ter   (āl'mə mä'tər, äl'mə)   
n.  

  1. The school, college, or university that one has attended.

  2. The anthem of an institution of higher learning.


[From Latin Alma Māter, nourishing mother (epithet of certain goddesses) : alma, feminine of almus, nourishing; see al-2 in Indo-European roots + māter, mother; see maternal.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

alma mater [(al-muh mah-tuhr, ahl-muh mah-tuhr)]

The school or university from which one graduated. The term also refers to a school's official song: “The reunion began with everyone singing the alma mater.” From Latin, meaning “nurturing mother.”

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

Alma Mater 
1398, from L., lit. "bountiful mother," title Romans gave to goddesses, especially Ceres and Cybele, from alma, fem. of almus "nourishing," from alere "to nourish" (see old) + mater "mother." First used 1710 in sense of "one's university or school" in ref. to British universities.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

alma mater

Also, Alma Mater. The school or college one attended and, usually, graduated from, as in During football season I always check to see how my alma mater is doing. This expression sometimes refers to the institution's official song, as in I never did learn the words to my college's alma mater. The term is Latin for "kind mother." [c. 1800]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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