Word of the day: matriculate

Matriculate is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day:

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 means “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 the Late Latin word 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 noun 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.

As M-W explains, “to matriculate is to enroll or be enrolled as a student, especially at a college or university.” When I was in college, I never knew what to check on the registration form asking if I was matriculated. Sometimes Yes, sometimes No. I never thought to ask, never thought to look up the word, and the answer never seemed to make a difference.