matriotism en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈmeɪtɹi.ətɪzəm/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈmæ-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
Blend of alma mater + patriotism, later reanalyzed as being derived from matri- by analogy with patriotism. Though attested since the mid-19th century, the continued placement of the word within quotation marks suggests it is often regarded as a neologism.
Meanings
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(uncountable) School, hometown, or parish pride or loyalty, as opposed to nationalism or patriotism.
[The poem] "Almae Matres" celebrates "a land of waters green and clear," and "a little city worn and grey." […] But though Mr. [Andrew] Lang's matriotism is thus divided, he has only one fatherland [Scotland], and to that he is faithful against the world.
1885, H[enry] C[harles] Beeching, “Rhymes à la Mode. By A. Lang [book review]”, in The Academy: A Weekly Review of Literature, Science, and Art, volume 27, number 667, London, →OCLC, pages 108–109:I am delighted with your ma'''triotism. "Rome, Venice, Cambridge!" I take it for an ascending scale, Rome being the first step and Cambridge the glowing apex.
1856, James Russell Lowell, “To Miss Norton”, in Charles Eliot Norton, editor, The Letters of James Russell Lowell, New York, N.Y.: Harper's Magazine, published September 1893, →OCLC, page 270:
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(uncountable) The love or celebration of a woman's influence upon society; the female equivalent to male patriotism.
Patriotism has incited men to live and die for the country and government; but Matriotism has impelled women to live and work for mankind. […] The Matriotism of household economics needs to be recognized as necessary for the whole of society.
1894, The New England Kitchen Magazine: A Monthly Journal of Domestic Science, volume 1, Boston, Mass.: New England Kitchen Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 84:
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(uncountable) The love of the motherland, as opposed to patriotism as love of the fatherland.
[page 225] The most extreme Russian patriots are matriots at heart. By this I mean that their devotion to "Mother Russia" is so intense that the underlying maternal fantasy basis of patriotism comes to the surface as maternal imagery, while paternal imagery fades away. […] [page 226] A true "son of the Motherland" does not distinguish his own interests from those of the Motherland. Indeed he is one with her. This is the meaning of matriotism: […]
1995, Daniel Rancour-Laferriere, “Masochism and the Collective”, in The Slave Soul of Russia: Moral Masochism and the Cult of Suffering, New York, N.Y.; London: New York University Press, →ISBN, pages 225–226:
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(uncountable) Pacifist patriotism; the love of society as opposed to the love of the state.
Matriotism is the opposite of patriotism. A yin to its yang, a counterforce to the violent militarism of patriotism. […] a Matriot would never send her child or another mother’s child to fight nonsense wars. She would march into war herself to protect her child from harm. […] Patriots cower behind the flag and send young people to die for the sake of material wealth.
2006, Cindy Sheehan, “Matriotism”, in Dear President Bush (Open Media Series), San Francisco, Calif.: City Lights, →ISBN, page 113:
- (uncountable) An enduring devotion to Mother Earth, ecology, sustainability, peace, and the survival of the human species.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matriotism | alternative | lexicographic |