mater
/ˈmeɪtɚ/noun
mater is spelled M-A-T-E-R: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,613th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, mater means “Mother” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of mater is maters or matres.
How many letters and syllables are in mater?
| Letters | 5: M-A-T-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.0 times per million words; the 15,613th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is mater?
Mater appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,613th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce mater?
- UK /ˈmeɪtə/
- US /ˈmeɪtɚ/
As a noun (“Alternative form of 'mater (“tomato”)”): /ˈmeɪtɚ/.
Mater has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-mater.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-mater.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with mater?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as mater from its last stressed vowel (/eɪtəɹ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: tamer, metra, terma, trema, ramet.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of mater
- maters plural
- matres plural
- 'maters plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does mater mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Mother.
- 2
A meninx; the dura mater, arachnoid mater, or pia mater of the brain.
- 3
Someone or something that mates.
- 4
Alternative form of 'mater (“tomato”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does mater come from?
From Latin māter (“mother”), partly via Late Middle English matere. Doublet of mata and mother. Ancestor of matrix.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).