那些“母亲”演化的词

本周日（5月13日）就是“母亲节”了，你想好用什么方式向母亲表达爱意了吗？要是还没想好，不如就跟小编一起学几个由mother（母亲）一词演化出来的英语单词吧。然后讲给妈妈听，妈妈看到这么好学的孩子一定很开心的！

Metropolis 大都市

Nowadays, it refers to a large city — particularly an important one.

这个词现在多指大都市，尤其是地位比较重要的城市。

In ancient Greece, metropolis referred to the mother city of a colony. Metropolis comes from the Greek mētēr ("mother") + polis ("city").

在古希腊，metropolis指殖民地的宗主城市。Metropolis一词源于希腊语的mētēr（母亲）和polis（城市）。

Matrix 母体，背景，模型

The term originates in the Latin mater, meaning "mother."

这个词源于拉丁语中的mater一词，意为“母亲”。

The original (now-archaic) meaning of matrix was "uterus." Today the word usually refers to a situation or set of conditions in which something develops or forms.

Matrix一词最早的意思为“子宫”（如今该用法已弃用）。现在，这个词通常指形势或者事物发展或成形的条件。

Alma Mater 母校

Alma mater refers either to a school one attended, or to that school's song.

Alma mater指“母校”或者母校的校歌。

The ancients used alma mater as a title for such goddesses as Ceres, the Roman goddess of the growth of food plants, and Cybele, who was worshipped as the universal mother of gods, humans, and animals.

古代的人用alma mater来指代谷神星（古罗马掌管谷物生长的女神）和希比利神（亦称“众神之母”，是宇宙中一切神、人类和动物之母）。

Matrimony 婚姻

Matrimony joins two people, but that pairing is rooted in one word: mother.

婚姻让两个人走到一起，不过这种联姻源自于一个词：mother（母亲）。

Matrimony comes from mater, Latin for "mother." This reflects the traditional role of marriage in legalizing motherhood – allowing women to produce legitimate children and heirs.

Matrimony也源自于拉丁语中的mater（母亲）一词。这也反应了母系合法化过程中婚姻的传统地位，即婚姻让女人能够繁衍合法的子嗣。

Matter 物质

The fact of the matter is this: the Latin word for "mother," mater, is this word's distant ancestor.

Matter一词怎么会出现在这里？事情是这样的，拉丁语中的mater（母亲）一词是matter一词的远祖。

Mater was shaped into materia, meaning "physical substance" or "matter." Materia eventually developed into matter.

Mater一词后来演化成materia，即“物质”。而materia一词最终演化成了matter这个词。

Why did mother lead to matter? The connection is uncertain, but perhaps it's because matter is the substance from which something is made; and it is mother from which we all are made.

“母亲”和“物质”之间有什么因果关系呢？答案尚不明确。或许因为物质是构成所有事物的成分，也是我们所有人成形之源头吧。

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（英文及图片来源：Merriam-Webster Online，编辑：Helen）

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