matriculate
verb
Did you know?
Anybody who has had basic Latin knows that alma mater, a fancy term for the school you attended, comes from a phrase that means "fostering mother." If mater is mother, then matriculate probably has something to do with a school nurturing you just like good old mom, right? Not exactly. If you go back far enough, matriculate is distantly related to the Latin mater, but its maternal associations were lost long ago—even in terms of Latin history. It is more closely related to Late Latin matricula, which means "public roll or register." Matricula has more to do with being enrolled than being mothered, but it is the diminutive form of the Latin matrix, which in Late Latin was used in the sense of "list" or "register" and earlier referred to female animals kept for the purposes of breeding.
Examples of matriculate in a Sentence
Fabian Ardaya, The Athletic, 26 Aug. 2024
Harris matriculated at Howard in 1982, earning her bachelor’s degree in economics and political science.
—Simmone Shah, TIME, 30 Oct. 2024
Auburn’s tuition cost $660 per year — roughly $2,675 in today’s dollars, when adjusted for inflation — for in-state students when Cook matriculated, according to the school’s online factbook.
—Tom Huddleston Jr., CNBC, 25 Oct. 2024
The restaurant is named after the first woman to matriculate at the university and sits in the school’s Old Steam Laundry building.
—Kate Kassin, Bon Appétit, 30 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for matriculate 
Dictionary Entries Near matriculate
Cite this Entry
“Matriculate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/matriculate. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
matriculate
verb
Share