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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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What declension is mater?
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Joined: Jan 2004
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veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jan 2004
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Mater, matris, is a feminine third declension noun. I hesitated for a second because I thought this might be a trick question, but what the heck ...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Mater,matris reminded me of "matriculate", as to become enrolled in a college that becomes your "alma mater."
I was surprised to find that the derivation is not as direct as I thought. Matrix is ancient word for womb, currently for a list. So matriculating is just getting your
name on a list. Nothing parental except the big bills for
papa to pay.
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journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Jan 2004
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a college that becomes your "alma mater."
which is to say, your foster mother or wet nurse. And after suckling at the breast of knowledge, you become an alumnus/alumna - foster child.
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veteran
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veteran
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which is to say, your foster mother or wet nurse. And after suckling at the breast of knowledge, you become an alumnus/alumna - foster childAlumnus and alma are both from the PIE root * al- 'to nourish' which gives us English old, as well as Latin adultus and adolescens. http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE11.html
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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But "prolix" didn't fit where I thought it might.
prolix
SYLLABICATION: pro·lix
PRONUNCIATION: pr-lks, prlks
ADJECTIVE: 1. Tediously prolonged; wordy: editing a prolix manuscript. 2. Tending to speak or write at excessive length. See synonyms at wordy.
ETYMOLOGY: Middle English, from Old French prolixe, from Latin prlixus, poured forth, extended.
OTHER FORMS: pro·lixi·ty (-lks-t) —NOUN
pro·lixly —ADVERB
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journeyman
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journeyman
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*al- 'to nourish' which gives us English old, as well as Latin adultus
And adulter?
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veteran
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veteran
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Adulter is supposed to be from the same root as Latin ulter 'opposite' and ille 'that' (from Old Latin ollus, *ol-no-s), olim 'once'; Old Irish oll 'big, extensive, broad'.
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Joined: Jan 2004
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journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Jan 2004
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Wow, that root is all over the place in terms of meaning. "Oll-" is still used in Irish as a modifying prefix: "ollscoil" - "university", "ollmhargadh" - "supermarket".
Anyhow, interesting to learn that adults and adulterers have nothing in common!
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
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Except that you would hope (devoutly) that all adulterers are adults.
I thought I'd posted the answer to Faldo's original query shortly after he'd posted it, but for some reason it didn't stick. I agree that it's 3rdD Fem, but, like jheem, I assumed it was a trick question.
So ... Faldo, whyinole didn't you just look it up? [goofy smiley emoticon-type emoticon]
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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whyinole didn't you just look it up
perhaps he has an ulterior motive?
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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It wasn't a trick question. The reason I didn't look it up was that I was at work and the onliest Latin references I know on the web assume you already know the declension. The reason I asked was for an answer to the question, 'What is the plural of alma mater?' By the time I got the answer to my question, the answer, 'almae matres,' had already been posted in the original forum.
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