noun
mater
MAY-tuh
noun
1
An informal or old-fashioned British word for mother.
""Home for the holidays, are you? The mater will be pleased," his uncle said."
2
In anatomy, one of the three membranes (meninges) that wrap the brain and spinal cord — the dura mater, arachnoid mater, or pia mater.
"The dura mater is the tough outer layer that protects the brain from the skull."
How to Use Mater
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA somewhat old-fashioned, mostly British way of saying "mother"; also the medical term for the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.
When to use it
The "mother" sense sounds dated or upper-class British (think Wodehouse novels); it is rarely used in everyday speech now.
Easily confused with
Word Forms
maters plural, matres plural, maters plural
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"Home for the holidays, are you? The _____ will be pleased," his uncle said.
Etymology
From Latin māter, "mother" — the same root that gives us "maternal," "material," and "matrix."