Alma mater:a school provides intellectual nourishment to its students

Alma mater (L: alma "nourishing/kind", mater "mother"; pl. almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase for a university or college. It is frequently used to refer to a school from which an individual has graduated or attended, most commonly the one from which they received an undergraduate degree. In English, the phrase is variously translated as "nourishing mother," "nursing mother," or "fostering mother," suggesting that a school provides intellectual nourishment to its students. Before its modern usage, Alma mater was an honorific title in Latin for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres穀神星唯一位於主帶的一顆矮行星名稱源自刻瑞斯，是掌管植物生長、收穫和慈愛的羅馬神。 or Cybele山母, and later in Catholicism for the Virgin Mary. Many medieval European universities adopted it as a Latin translation of their names. Its first academic usage in English came in the 17th century to describe British universities, and the term is now used by many schools across the English-speaking world. It is related to the term alumnus, denoting a university graduate, and literally meaning a "nursling" or "one who is nourished." The term may also refer to a song or hymn associated with a school.