Alma mater is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning 'nourishing mother'. It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to alumnus, literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a school graduate.
In its earliest usage, alma mater was an honorific title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele. Later, in Catholicism, it became a title for Mary, mother of Jesus. By the early 17th century, the nursing mother became an allegory for universities.
