matriculate

verb ma·tric·u·late \ mə-ˈtri-kyə-ˌlāt \

|Updated on: 15 Jun 2018

Examples: matriculate in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of matriculate

matriculated; matriculating

transitive verb

: to enroll as a member of a body and especially of a college or university

intransitive verb

: to be enrolled at a college or university

She matriculated at the state university.

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matriculant

play \-lənt\ noun

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matriculation

play \mə-ˌtri-kyə-ˈlā-shən\ noun

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Examples of matriculate in a Sentence

the college matriculated 1000 students for the fall semester

Recent Examples of matriculate from the Web

In 1864, a year after graduation from the Institute, Cole matriculated into the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMC), the first school in the U.S. to award women the degree of Medical Doctor.

— leila mcneill, Smithsonian, "The Woman Who Challenged the Idea that Black Communities Were Destined for Disease," 6 June 2018
Explaining the 75 percent dropoff that has transpired in the course of 12 months, Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban was quick to point out that the high number of freshmen who matriculated in January and February last year was an outlier.

— rainer sabin, AL.com, "Alabama experiences dropoff in early enrollees," 15 Feb. 2018
Having left Decatur decades back just mere credits from graduating in order to start her family, Deanna decides to matriculate alongside her kid, who’s initially aghast at the situation but quickly (and surprisingly) is cool with it.

— brian truitt, USA TODAY, "Review: Melissa McCarthy's C-grade college comedy 'Life of the Party' is a Greek tragedy," 10 May 2018
As Tatis and Luis Urias and a cadre of minor league pitchers continue to matriculate, the next step for the Padres is adding veterans that not only provide an example but help provide a lot of victories.

— kevin acee, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Padres trying to beat Astros now, be Astros later," 7 Apr. 2018
Abrams dove into student politics while matriculating at Spelman College.

— Essence.com, "Can She Turn A Red State Blue? Stacey Abrams Intends To In Georgia," 26 Apr. 2018
In 2014, for example, 12 Andover graduates matriculated at Yale.

— richard mcgill murphy, Town & Country, "How John Palfrey Is Bringing America's Most Elite Boarding School Into the Digital Age," 7 July 2015
As a young man Clyde matriculated at Weaver High School and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree at Lincoln University of Pennsylvania.

— courant.com, "Clyde Billington Jr.," 12 Apr. 2018
Albert Einstein was a student at the Swiss Polytechnic, matriculating at age seventeen, in 1896.

— rachel aviv, The New Yorker, "Black Ice, Near-Death, and Transcendence on I-91," 2 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'matriculate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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. It is more closely related to Late Latin matricula, which means "public roll or register," and it has more to do with being enrolled than being mothered.

Origin and Etymology of matriculate

Medieval Latin matriculatus, past participle of matriculare, from Late Latin matricula public roll, diminutive of matric-, matrix list, from Latin, breeding female

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1577

in the meaning defined at transitive sense

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