alma mater
/ˌælmə ˈmeɪtə(ɹ)/
"alma-mater" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“alma mater” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A school, college, or university which a person has graduated from or attended.
Corpus desk
Index EN-alma-mater · alma mater · English
alma mater · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "A" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | alma mater |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌælmə ˈmeɪtə(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “alma mater” in English
Rare enough to double-check
alma mater is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌælmə ˈmeɪtə(ɹ)/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for alma mater, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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. The correct English form is alma mater, spelled A-L-M-A- -M-A-T-E-R.
Definition
- 1A school, college, or university which a person has graduated from or attended.
- 2A school’s anthem or song.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how alma mater appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I’m in the place where I grew up, where my alma mater is.
However, a new analysis from Trump’s alma mater suggests that his immigration crackdown – a centerpiece of his second term – could do the exact opposite.
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.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.