Ronaldo Mota, Member of the Board of the Presidency of ABMES, Chancellor of the Estácio Group
The word “student” comes from the Latin alumnus, meaning, literally, breastfed or one who feeds on milk. In other words, an intellectual infant or a disciple. Alumnus or alumni from the verb alere, which in Latin means to feed, sustain, nourish or grow.
Erroneously, some texts treat the word “student” as being the junction of the Greek prefix a, which would correspond to absent or without, and the suffix luno, derived from the Latin word lumni, meaning light. Therefore, in the incorrect version, student would be the one without light or without knowledge. The false etymology above is less innocent than it seems. It is a misunderstanding that has found fertile ground in those who see the student as someone more passive in the educational process. In treating it as without light, one runs the risk of ending by transforming into fact something that was, at first, just a simple etymological confusion.
Erroneously, some texts treat the word “student” as being the junction of the Greek prefix a, which would correspond to absent or without, and the suffix luno, derived from the Latin word lumni, meaning light. Therefore, in the incorrect version, student would be the one without light or without knowledge. The false etymology above is less innocent than it seems. It is a misunderstanding that has found fertile ground in those who see the student as someone more passive in the educational process. In treating it as without light, one runs the risk of ending by transforming into fact something that was, at first, just a simple etymological confusion.