那些由“母親”演化來的單詞

Metropolis 大都市

Nowadays, it refers to a large city — particularly an important one。這個詞現(xiàn)在多指大都市，尤其是地位比較重要的城市。

In ancient Greece, metropolis referred to the mother city of a colony. Metropolis comes from the Greek mētēr ("mother") + polis ("city")。在古希臘，metropolis指殖民地的宗主城市。Metropolis一詞源于希臘語的mētēr(母親)和polis(城市)。

Matrix 母體，背景，模型

The term originates in the Latin mater, meaning "mother."這個詞源于拉丁語中的mater一詞，意為“母親”。

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一詞最早的意思為“子宮”(如今該用法已棄用)?，F(xiàn)在，這個詞通常指形勢或者事物發(fā)展或成形的條件。

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來指代谷神星(古羅馬掌管谷物生長的女神)和希比利神(亦稱“眾神之母”，是宇宙中一切神、人類和動物之母)。

Matrimony 婚姻

Matrimony joins two people, but that pairing is rooted in one word: mother。婚姻讓兩個人走到一起，不過這種聯(lián)姻源自于一個詞：mother(母親)。

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也源自于拉丁語中的mater(母親)一詞。這也反應(yīng)了母系合法化過程中婚姻的傳統(tǒng)地位，即婚姻讓女人能夠繁衍合法的子嗣。

Matter 物質(zhì)

The fact of the matter is this: the Latin word for "mother," mater, is this word's distant ancestor.Matter一詞怎么會出現(xiàn)在這里?事情是這樣的，拉丁語中的mater(母親)一詞是matter一詞的遠(yuǎn)祖。

Mater was shaped into materia, meaning "physical substance" or "matter." Materia eventually developed into matter.Mater一詞后來演化成materia，即“物質(zhì)”。而materia一詞最終演化成了matter這個詞。

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。“母親”和“物質(zhì)”之間有什么因果關(guān)系呢?答案尚不明確?；蛟S因為物質(zhì)是構(gòu)成所有事物的成分，也是我們所有人成形之源頭吧。