12-letter words starting with m
- matricentred — Matricentric.
- matricentric — (of a family or society) Centering around the mother or mothers.
- matriclinous — Having mostly maternally-inherited characteristics.
- matriculants — Plural form of matriculant.
- matriculated — Be enrolled at a college or university.
- matriculates — Third-person singular simple present indicative form of matriculate.
- matriculator — to enroll in a college or university as a candidate for a degree.
- matrilateral — related through the mother, as to a maternal uncle.
- matrilineage — lineal descent traced through the female line.
- matrimonials — Plural form of matrimonial.
- matrix patch — A matrix patch is an adhesive patch with medicine distributed through the adhesive. The patch is applied to the skin, and the medicine in it is delivered into the skin and into the bloodstream.
- matroclinous — inheritance in which the traits of the offspring are derived primarily from the maternal parent (opposed to patrocliny).
- matter waves — a hypothetical wave associated with the motion of a particle of atomic or subatomic size that describes effects such as the diffraction of beams of particles by crystals.
- matthew quay — Matthew Stanley, 1833–1904, U.S. politician: senator 1887–99, 1901–4.
- matto grosso — Mato Grosso.
- maturational — the act or process of maturating.
- maundy money — the ceremony of washing the feet of the poor, especially commemorating Jesus' washing of His disciples' feet on Maundy Thursday.
- mauvaise foi — (in the philosophy of Sartre) the expression usually rendered as bad faith
- mauve decade — the 1890s, considered as a social and cultural period characterized by prosperity and complacency.
- maxillectomy — Surgical removal of the maxilla.
- maximilian i — 1459–1519, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire 1493–1519.
- maximisation — Alternative spelling of maximization.
- maximization — to increase to the greatest possible amount or degree: to look for ways of maximizing profit.
- maximum card — a picture postcard to which a stamp can be affixed on the picture side, after which it can be cancelled by the appropriate postal service.
- may-december — of or designating a marriage or romantic relationship between a young person and a person who is considerably older
- mcleod gauge — a device for determining very low gas pressures by manometrically measuring the pressure of a sample after its compression to a known fraction of its original volume.
- meadow grass — any grass of the genus Poa, especially P. pratensis, the Kentucky bluegrass.
- meadow mouse — any of numerous short-tailed rodents of the genus Microtus and allied genera, chiefly of fields and meadows in the temperate Northern Hemisphere.
- meadow pipit — a common European songbird, Anthus pratensis, with a pale brown speckled plumage: family Motacillidae (pipits and wagtails)
- mean anomaly — the anomaly of a mean planet; the angular distance of the planet from perihelion or aphelion.
- mean well by — to have good intentions or friendly, helpful feelings toward
- meander line — a zigzag traverse made to define the approximate margin of a natural body of water.
- meanderingly — In a meandering or winding manner.
- meaningfully — full of meaning, significance, purpose, or value; purposeful; significant: a meaningful wink; a meaningful choice.
- means-tested — A grant or benefit that is means-tested varies in amount depending on a means test.
- meanspirited — petty; small-minded; ungenerous: a meanspirited man, unwilling to forgive.
- measure zero — the property of a set of points for which, given any small number, there exists a set of intervals such that each point of the given set is contained in at least one of the intervals and such that, essentially, the combined length of the intervals is less than the small number.
- measurements — The action of measuring something.
- meat extract — a preparation containing the concentrated essence of meat
- meat grinder — machine: minces meat
- meat packing — the business or industry of slaughtering cattle and other meat animals and processing the carcasses for sale, sometimes including the packaging of processed meat products.
- mecamylamine — a ganglion-blocking drug administered orally to lower high blood pressure. Formula: C11H21N
- mecca balsam — balm-of-Gilead (def 2).
- mechanically — having to do with machinery: a mechanical failure.
- mechanicians — Plural form of mechanician.
- mechanizable — Capable of being mechanized.
- mechatronics — The synergistic combination of mechanical engineering, electronic engineering and software engineering for the study of automata from an engineering perspective and the control of advanced hybrid systems.
- mechlin lace — a fine bobbin lace with raised cord, originally made in Mechlin.
- meclonazepam — A benzodiazepine derivative, similar in structure to clonazepam, with sedative and anxiolytic effects and antiparasitic activity against Schistosoma mansoni.
- medal-holder — a person who has won a medal