Alma Mater Means Nourishing Mother
Mater is Latin for mother, used in English in fixed phrases. Alma mater names the institution that educated you.
Mater is Latin for mother, surviving in English in fixed phrases and dated slang. *Alma mater* means nourishing mother, a phrase Roman writers applied to goddesses and universities later took for themselves, meaning the institution that fed you knowledge. *Dura mater* and *pia mater*, the tough and tender membranes around the brain, come from Arabic medical texts translated through Latin. In British public-school slang, *mater* and *pater* meant mother and father.
- Mother, in Latin. *Alma mater.*
- Alma mater — your old school. *My alma mater.*
- Dura mater — a brain membrane. *The dura mater.*
- Maternal — of a mother. *Maternal instinct.*
- Matriculate — to enrol. *Matriculate at university.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Latin | mater | Mater. |
| Phrase | alma mater | Alma mater. |
| Adjective | maternal | Maternal care. |
| Noun | matriarch | A matriarch. |
| Verb | matriculate | Matriculate. |
- He returned to his alma mater.Education.
- The dura mater covers the brain.Anatomy.
- Alma mater means nourishing mother.Etymology.
The mater family
- Maternal — of a mother
- Matriarch — a female head of a family
- Matrix — originally the womb, then a mould, then an array
- Matriculate — to be enrolled, through a register
- Matrimony — the state of motherhood, then of marriage
Latin *mater*, mother, from an Indo-European root shared with English *mother* and Greek *meter*.
What does alma mater mean?
Nourishing mother. It refers to the school or university that educated you.
Is matrix related to mother?
Yes. It originally meant the womb, from mater, then a mould, and finally a rectangular array.