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mater

[mey-ter]
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noun, plural ma·ters, ma·tres [mey-treez] /ˈmeɪ triz/.

British Informal. mother1.
the backing holding the movable parts of an astrolabe.

Origin of mater

First recorded in 1585–95, mater is from the Latin word māter
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for maters

Historical Examples of maters

  • Maters gone over to the Baker woman; I saw her cross the road.

    Twos and Threes

    G. B. Stern

  • Maters are different, and I'm glad you thought of that, Tom.

  • She would give bond to pay all that her apparel, and the other maters she had, would fall short of.

    Clarissa, Volume 7

    Samuel Richardson

  • Ye raily must talke ter mi loryer; them maters I leaves 'tirely ter him.'

    Among the Pines

    James R. Gilmore

  • The maters got a notion that my lungs are weak, and was saying only the other day that a sea trip would do me good.

    King of the Air

    Herbert Strang

British Dictionary definitions for maters

mater

noun

British public school slang, often facetious a word for mother 1

Word Origin for mater

C16: from Latin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012