Emily Dickinson Lexicon

MATE'RI-EL, a. [Fr.]

Material; constituent substance.

MA-TERN'AL, a. [L. maternus, from mater, mother.]

Motherly; pertaining to a mother; becoming a mother; as, maternal love; maternal tenderness.

MA-TERN'AL-LY, adv.

In a motherly manner.

MA-TERN'I-TY, n. [Fr. maternité.]

The character or relation of a mother.

MAT'FEL-ON, n. [Sp. and Port. matar, D. matsen, to kill, and felon.]

A plant of the genus Centaurea, knap-weed.

MATH, n. [Sax. mæth.]

A mowing; as, in aftermath.

MATH-E-MAT'IC, or MATH-E-MAT'IC-AL, a. [L. mathematicus.]

1. Pertaining to mathematics; as, mathematical knowledge; mathematical instruments.
2. According to the principles of mathematics; as, mathematical exactness.

MATH-E-MAT'IC-AL-LY, adv.

1. According to the laws or principles of mathematical science.
2. With mathematical certainty; demonstrably. Bentley.

MATH-E-MA-TI'CIAN, n. [Fr. mathematicien.]

One versed in mathematics.

MATH-E-MAT'ICS, n. [L. mathematica, from Gr. μαθηματικη, from μανθανω, to learn; the ν is probably casual, and the root belongs to MD, No. 10.]

The science of quantity; the science which treats of magnitude and number, or of whatever can be measured or numbered. This science is divided into pure or speculative, which considers quantity abstractly, without relation to matter; and mixed, which treats of magnitude as subsisting in material bodies, and is consequently interwoven with physical considerations. It is the peculiar excellence of mathematics, that its principles are demonstrable. Arithmetic, geometry, algebra, trigonometry, and conic sections, are branches of mathematics.

MATH'E-MEG, n.

A fish of the cod kind, inhabiting Hudson's Bay. Pennant.

MATH'ES, n.

An herb. Ainsworth.

MA-THE'SIS, n. [Gr. μαθησις.]

The doctrine of mathematics. Pope.

MAT'IN, a. [Fr. matin, morning; G. mette, matins; L. matutinus.]

Pertaining to the morning; used in the morning; as, a matin trumpet.

MAT'IN, n.

Morning. [Not used.] Shak.

MAT'INS, n.

1. Morning worship or service; morning prayers or songs. The vigils are celebrated before them, and the nocturn and matins, for the saints whose the relics are. Stillingfleet. The winged choristers began / To chirp their matins. Cleaveland.
2. Time of morning service; the first canonical hour in the Romish church.

MAT'RAS, n. [Fr. matras; D. id. In French, the word signifies an arrow; Arm. matara, to throw a dart. This verb coincides with L. mitto. It seems then to be so called from its long neck.]

A cucurbit; a chimical vessel in the shape of an egg, or with a tapering neck open at the top, serving the purposes of digestion, evaporation, &c. Nicholson. Quincy.

MAT'RESS, n. [W. matras; D. id.; It. materasso; G. matratze; Fr. matelas; Arm. matelaçz, from mat.]

A quilted bed; a bed stuffed with hair, moss or other soft material, and quilted.

MA'TRICE, or MATRIX, n. [L. matrix, from mater, mother.]

1. The womb; the cavity in which the fetus of an animal is formed and nourished till its birth. Encyc.
2. A mold; the cavity in which any thing is formed, and which gives it shape; as, the matrix of a type.
3. The place or substance in which any thing is formed or produced; as, the matrix of metals; gang.
4. In dyeing, the five simple colors, black, white, blue, red and yellow, of which all the rest are composed. Encyc.

MAT'RI-CI-DAL, a.

Pertaining to matricide.

MAT'RI-CIDE, n. [L. matricidium; mater, mother, and cædo, to slay.]

1. The killing or murder of a mother. Brown.
2. The killer or murderer of his mother.

MA-TRIC'U-LATE, n.

One enrolled in a register, and thus admitted to membership in a society. Arbuthnot.

MA-TRIC'U-LATE, v.t. [L. matricula, a roll or register, from matrix.]

To enter or admit to membership in a body or society, particularly in a college or university, by enrolling the name in a register. Wotton.

MA-TRIC'U-LA-TED, pp.

Entered or admitted to membership in a society, particularly in a university.

MA-TRIC-U-LA'TION, n.

The act of registering a name and admitting to membership. Ayliffe.