matriculate

Definitions

From Latin matricula, a 'little register' (diminutive of matrix, 'womb / public list'), + -ate (to make). To matriculate is to have your name written into the official register of students. The 'mother' link is buried: the womb was imagined as the source-list of life, so a register became a matrix.

Why It Means This

matriculate is the surprise of the family — it has nothing visible to do with mothers. Trace it back: Latin matrix meant both 'womb' and 'official register,' the womb being seen as the source-list from which life is drawn. A small register was a matricula, and to enter your name in it was to matriculate. So the mother sense is there, just hidden under the image of an enrollment list.

Common Collocations

• 1.matriculate at在……注册入学
• 2.matriculate into注册进入
• 3.newly matriculated新入学的

Example Sentences

• 1.

  She matriculated at Oxford in the autumn of 2020.

• 2.

  First-year students matriculate at a formal ceremony.

• 3.

  You must pass the exam before you can matriculate.