mater
Americannoun
-
British Informal. mother.
-
the backing holding the movable parts of an astrolabe.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mater
First recorded in 1585–95, mater is from the Latin word māter
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Before midshipman Lincoln Hedberg steps off the bandstand and the Herndon Climb ends, he takes the microphone and sings “Navy Blue & Gold,” USNA’s alma mater.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
Orgeron played defensive line for four years at Northwestern State, then started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater in 1984.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
Alumni now only have the illusion of choice in who guides their alma mater.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 27, 2026
During a 2024 commencement address to his alma mater at the University of Pennsylvania engineering school, Ternus relayed a story about making the Cinema Display, the first Apple product he worked on a quarter-century ago.
From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026
In 1956, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Virginia Tucker’s alma mater, admitted its first black students, Bettye Tillman and JoAnne Smart.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
She has increased her charitable donations to her alma maters and where she taught, in addition to other organizations such as Doctors Without Borders and Habitat for Humanity.
From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2025
Mr. Pagliuca had donated hundreds of millions of dollars to his alma maters, Duke University and Harvard, largely earmarked for science.
From New York Times ● Jan. 12, 2024
Before a Syracuse-Virginia Tech game matching the alma maters of his great uncle and father, Sturdivant gawked at the size of the players, the eighth-grader never thinking he could measure up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2023
Officials often gave these records to their alma maters.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 10, 2023
“Good man. But best not mention it to”—Hugo nodded through the garage wall—“the maters and the paters, or we'll spend the rest of the afternoon playing Ludo or the Game of Life under strict supervision.”
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
"You look pale, child!" cries mamma, anxious, like all pavidae matres.
From The Virginians by Thackeray, William Makepeace
In Akenside's Pleasures of Imagination we find:— Hence, finally by night, The village matres, round the blazing hearth Suspend the infant audience with their tales, Breathing astonishment.
From A Study of Fairy Tales by Kready, Laura F.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
