Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A Turkish measure of capacity, equal to 1.15 gallons.
  • noun The name given in some parts of the East, and especially in Egypt, to a girl whose occupation is to amuse company in the houses of the wealthy or to sing dirges at funerals; a singing girl, of a higher class than the ghawazee or dancing-girls of Egypt, with whom the almas are sometimes confounded. See ghawazee and ghaziyeh. Also spelled alme and almeh.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Same as alme.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An Egyptian singer or dancing-girl used for entertainment or as a professional mourner.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From colloquial Arabic عالمة (‘ālima), originally a feminine adjective meaning “learned, knowledgeable”, from علم (‘alima, "to know").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word alma.

Examples

  • WORD CORRECT PRONUNCIATION alma mater _alma mater_ apparatus _apparatus_ apricot _apricot_ attaché _attasha'_ audacious _audashus_ ballet _bal'la_ blasé _blaza'_ blatant _blatant_ chasten _chasen_

    Practical Grammar and Composition Thomas Wood

  • = -- 1. = la alma =, by poetic license, since _el alma_ would make the line too long by one syllable.

    Modern Spanish Lyrics 1899

  • Mr. Harman soon created the Alma Children's Education Foundation (alma is Spanish for soul), a registered charity, and he is now working on funding seven projects in Peru.

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed 2010

  • Terroir is the now overused French winemaking word for "a sense of place," whereas alma is Spanish for "soul" or, as Fiolek prefers, Latin for "inciting the spirit."

    independent.com stories 2009

  • He did, however, sit down and began lecturing Wexford on higher education in China with particular reference to the Peking Institute of Foreign Languages which he referred to as his alma mater.

    The Speaker Of Mandarin Rendell, Ruth, 1930- 1983

  • But these days Princeton's hallowed grounds give new meaning to the phrase alma mater.

    The Group 2008

  • Later, the expression alma mater was applied, e.g. to Paris in 1389;

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 15: Tournely-Zwirner 1840-1916 1913

  • Just as the word alma - translated "virgin" in Isaiah 7: 14 - can also be translated "young woman," so it is possible to translate the Greek expression here "double pay."

    -What is the difference between “double honor” and “double pay” in different versions of 1 Timothy 5:17? « 2010

  • One of the oldest colleges in the country, William & Mary is often called the alma mater of the nation, due to its ties to our founding fathers and Williamsburg's connections to the Commonwealth's history.

    WCAV - HomePage - Headlines 2009

  • The Delta Devils (17-16) had their nine-game winning streak snapped in the first NCAA appearance since 1996 for the 3,767-student school from Itta Bena, Miss., best known as the alma mater of NFL career receiving leader Jerry Rice.

    USATODAY.com 2007

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.