alma mater
alma (nourish) + māter (mother)
Originally this phrase referred to ancient Roman goddesses such as Ceres and Cybele, who embodied both agricultural and biological fertility. Over the course of the 18th century, it came to denote a person’s university — that is, where you were "nurtured" as a student.
In the spring of 1940, at the end of a busy school day, Katherine was surprised to find Dr. Davis, the president of her alma mater, waiting outside her classroom.
madrigal
māter (origin, mother ) + al (of, belonging to)
A madrigal is a short love poem or a simple song usually sung by two to eight voices unaccompanied by instruments. Madregal is thought to come from a 14th-century Venetian dialect and to ultimately derive from Late Latin matricalis, "maternal, natural, primitive."
Mr. Gardiner said both the madrigals and operas still speak directly to audiences more than four centuries later thanks to an emotional range that was unparalleled at the time.
material
māter (origin, mother) + ial (of, relating to)
Material is loaded with meanings. As a noun, it can refer to "the substance from which something is made." This meaning relates to māter in the sense of "origin": material is the substance that creates or forms something.
“This edge,” said Giacomo Paradisi, touching the steel with the handle of a spoon, “will cut through any material in the world. Look.”
maternity
māter (womb, mother) + -ity (quality of being)
Maternity can refer to "the state of being pregnant," but these days it's commonly used as a synonym for "the state of being a mother; motherhood." The word is also used as an attributive adjective in phrases like "maternity clothes" or "maternity leave."
Judy Chicago’s Birth Project: Born Again Exhibition features textile and needlepoint pieces, created by Chicago and her collaborators in the 1980s, that explore maternity, motherhood, femaleness and gender.
matriarch
mātri- (Latin: mother) + -arch (Greek: ruler)
The English word matriarch is formed from a combination of Greek and Latin roots. This word was first used in 17th-century Europe and was abstracted from patriarch — which, as you may have guessed, means “a man who heads a family or tribe.”
My grandmother still lives in the same home in the Bronx, presiding as ever as the family matriarch.
matricide
mātri- (mother) + -cida (killer)
Matricide is a noun that describes both the act of killing one's mother and the person who kills his or her mother. Both meanings came into use between the 1590s and 1630s. In the Old English, the equivalent word was moðorslaga, or "mother-slayer."
He read up on matricide, the crime of killing one's mother, political prisoners, "lying in state", coffins and arrangements for a pauper's funeral.
matriculate
mātrīc- (register, list) + -ula (forming nouns)
Matriculate is both a noun and a verb — so if you're a matriculate, you have matriculated. In Latin, matricula referred to a public register and derived from matricis, "list" or "source or womb." In the 16th century, matricis came to mean “a place where something is developed,” which in turn led to the modern meaning of matriculate.
I spent last summer studying at Harvard University, and in September I'll matriculate at Yale University.
matrimony
mātri- (mother) + -monium (action, state, condition)
Both matrimony and marriage come from the 12th-century French matremonie, "property inherited from one's mother," which in turn derives from Latin matrimonium ("wedlock, marriage"). Remember that matrimony joins not only two people but also their property!
The writing is by turns confident and questioning, as the speaker considers the promise of matrimony — lifelong contentment and security — and its realities.
matrix
mātrīc-, mātrīx (breeding female animal)
OR
māter (mother) + -trīx (after nūtrīx, wet-nurse)
The etymology of matrix is contested, but one thing is clear: the root mātri- is in there! How did we get from the idea of "an animal that breeds" to "an enclosure in which something develops" or "a computer-simulated reality"? The meanings of matrix have evolved, but they all relate to the idea of something that encompasses something else.
“Employees who think they’re sharing unimportant information don’t realize that they’re adding to a broad matrix of knowledge,’’ Mr. Campbell said.
matron
mātri- (mother) + -ōna (after patrōnus, patron)
The root form of this word originally meant "married woman," but by the 14th century, it could also refer to an elderly lady, a female patron, or a midwife. The sense of a "female manager (as of a school or hospital)" was first recorded in the 1550s. In the U.S., a "matron of honor" is a wedding attendant who is already married.
“She sounds like magic,” the town matrons sighed, and then Xan shot them a poisonous look, at which they started mumbling about the weather.
matter
māter (mother) + -ia (ending for abstract nouns)
Like material, matter has a range of meanings. Its relation to māter comes from its simplest definition: "physical material or substance": a mother's womb is where formation and development occur, and matter is that which forms or composes a physical object or substance.
The end game is to map the boundaries that separate life from non-living matter.
metropolis
mētropolis (Latin) and metrόpolis (Greek)
Metropolis derives from Latin and Greek words meaning a "capital city," as well as a "see of a bishop." In Greek, mátr- (mother) + pόlis (city) referred to the "mother city of a colony."
The volcano is considered a danger to cities nearby, including the metropolis Naples.
