San Mateo
16
2.6
- proper noun
- /sæn məˈteɪ.oʊ/
- I live in San Mateo.
- San Mateo County
- San Mateo, California
- city of San Mateo
Examples
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After moving to San Mateo, she found the climate and community very pleasant.
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Many tech companies have their offices in San Mateo due to its location near Silicon Valley.
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The train from San Francisco to San Mateo is a popular option for daily commuters.
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Have you ever visited San Mateo?
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The city of San Mateo is known for its beautiful residential areas and proximity to Silicon Valley.
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The annual San Mateo County Fair attracts thousands of visitors each summer with its entertainment and food.
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San Mateo offers a variety of parks and recreational activities for families enjoying outdoor adventures.
Surface Forms
Morphology
San + Mateo
The form 'San Mateo' transparently breaks down into 'San' (Saint) + 'Mateo' (a personal name, Spanish for Matthew), following a common cross-linguistic pattern for place names. However, knowing the parts lets a learner infer it is a place named after a saint but does not let them derive the specific lexicalized referent (a particular city in California), so the transparency is partial.
Etymology
San Mateo comes from Spanish: San means 'Saint' and Mateo means 'Matthew'. Early Spanish settlers often named places after saints, so the town was named for 'Saint Matthew', which is why we still call it San Mateo today.