matriculate

verb

ma·​tric·​u·​late mə-ˈtri-kyə-ˌlāt 

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.

matriculant

mə-ˈtri-kyə-lənt 

noun

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—even in terms of Latin history. It is more closely related to Late Latin matricula, which means "public roll or register." Matricula has more to do with being enrolled than being mothered, but it is the diminutive form of the Latin matrix, which in Late Latin was used in the sense of "list" or "register" and earlier referred to female animals kept for the purposes of breeding.

Synonyms

• enroll
• enrol
• inscribe
• list
• register

Examples of matriculate in a Sentence

the college matriculated 1000 students for the fall semester

Recent Examples on the Web

Ananda was born in Los Angeles, California, and attended the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts before heading to the nation’s capital to matriculate at Howard University. —Doug Melville, Forbes.com, 13 June 2025

New York University and Columbia University each have around 25,000 F-1 students currently matriculating, as does Northeastern in Boston. —Dan Gooding, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 June 2025

Fisher has seen its veteran community grow, with this year marking its highest enrollment of military students since Trotta matriculated in 2007. —Charlene Peters, USA Today, 21 May 2025

Most people who graduate from college do not matriculate from Ivy League schools. —James Unnever, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

1577, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

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Kids Definition

matriculate

verb

ma·​tric·​u·​late mə-ˈtrik-yə-ˌlāt 

matriculated; matriculating

: to enroll especially in a college or university

matriculation

-ˌtrik-yə-ˈlā-shən 

noun