Chinese word

校友

Pronunciation

Pinyinxiào yǒu

Meaning

  • nounalum

Example

昨天我在母校遇到一位校友。zuó tiān wǒ zài mǔ xiào yù dào yí wèi xiào yǒu

Yesterday I ran into an alum at my old school.

Illustration for 校友 (alum)

More examples

我在社交媒体上找到了很多校友的联系方式。wǒ zài shè jiāo méi tǐ shàng zhǎo dào le hěn duō xiào yǒu de lián xì fāng shì

I found the contact information for many alumni on social media.

Core concept

Someone whose connection to a school comes from having studied there.

Common phrases

  • 参加校友会cān jiā xiào yǒu huì

    attend an alumni reunion

  • 与校友联系yǔ xiào yǒu lián xì

    contact an alum

  • 老校友lǎo xiào yǒu

    older alum

Similar words

同学tóng xué: A person who studies or studied at the same school or in the same class as another person.
毕业生bì yè shēng: A person who has completed a course of study and graduated from a school.

Definition in Chinese

从某一学校毕业的人，也可泛指曾在同校学习或有学习经历的人。cóng mǒu yì xué xiào bì yè de rén yě kě fàn zhǐ céng zài tóng xiào xué xí huò yǒu xué xí jīng lì de rén

Word origin

The compound 校友 (xiàoyǒu, "school alum") pairs 校 (xiào, "school") with 友 (yǒu, "friend"), treating people linked by the same school as a fellowship.

Usage tips

  • The word can cover people from different years, so it marks the school connection without saying that they were in the same class or started at the same time.

Other meanings

  • schoolmatenoun
  • classmatenoun

Opposites

  • 在校生zài xiào shēngcurrent studentnoun

Related words

  • 校友会xiào yǒu huìalumni associationnoun
  • 校友录xiào yǒu lùalumni directorynoun

Word lists with this word