Before its current usage, "alma mater" was an honorific title for various Latin mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and later in Catholicism for the Virgin Mary. It entered academic usage when the University of Bologna adopted the motto "Alma Mater Studiorum" ("nurturing mother of studies"), which describes its heritage as the oldest operating university in the Western world. It is related to "alumnus", a term used for a university graduate that literally means a "nursling" or "one who is nourished".