alma mater

\al.ma ma.tɛʁ\

/\al.ma ma.tɛʁ\/ noun

The verdict

“alma mater” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Désigne la terre nourricière, la nature dans sa globalité.

Corpus desk

Index FR-alma-mater · alma mater · French

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

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.

Key facts for alma mater
PropertyValue
Headwordalma mater
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\al.ma ma.tɛʁ\
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « alma mater » en français

alma matersiège au-delà des 100.000 formes les plus fréquentes du français, dans la traîne du lexique spécialisé ou peu usité.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

alma mater is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \al.ma ma.tɛʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for alma mater in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is alma mater, spelled A-L-M-A- -M-A-T-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Désigne la terre nourricière, la nature dans sa globalité.
  2. 2
    Désigne l’université, la grande école dans laquelle une personne a étudié.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how alma mater appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Aujourd’hui, la nature est devenue une sorte d’alma mater qui doit être protégée.
  2. Alors lui aussi, il sucera le lait de l’Alma Mater. Tu feras du latin, n’est-ce pas ?

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "alma mater"?
"alma mater" is spelled A-L-M-A- -M-A-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \al.ma ma.tɛʁ\.
What does "alma mater" mean?
As a noun, "alma mater" means: Désigne la terre nourricière, la nature dans sa globalité.
How do you pronounce "alma mater"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "alma mater" is \al.ma ma.tɛʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "alma mater" come from?
"alma mater" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list