English Explanatory Dictionary

mat

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A flat piece of coarse material used for wiping one’s feet, or as a decorative or protective floor covering.
  2. A small flat piece of material used to protect a surface from anything hot or rough; a coaster.
  3. A floor pad to protect athletes.
  4. A thickly tangled mess.
  5. A thin layer of woven, non-woven, or knitted fiber that serves as reinforcement to a material.
  6. A thin surface layer; superficial cover.
verb
  1. To cover, protect or decorate with mats.
  2. To form a thick, tangled mess; to interweave into, or like, a mat; to entangle.
noun
  1. Clipping of material.
noun
  1. An alloy of copper, tin, iron, etc.; white metal.
  2. Alternative form of matte (“instrument for producing a dull, lustreless surface”).
verb
  1. Alternative form of matte (“to produce a dull, lustreless surface on metal”).
noun
  1. Abbreviation of matinee (“performance at a theater”).
noun
  1. Alternative spelling of matte (“decorative border around a picture”).
adj
  1. Alternative form of matte (“not reflecting light”).
noun
  1. Clipping of matrix.
noun
  1. Vulgar, obscene, or profane language in Russian and some other Slavic language communities.
name
  1. A diminutive of the male given name Matthew.
  2. a Malay man
noun
  1. Initialism of medication-assisted treatment.
  2. Initialism of Master of Arts in Teaching.

Pronunciation

măt /mæt/ [mæʔ(t̚)] en-us-mat.ogg /mat/

Word forms

mat mats matting matted matt

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English matte (“mat”), from Old English meatte (“mat”), from Late Latin matta (“mat made of rushes”), from Punic or Phoenician (compare Hebrew מיטה \ מִטָּה (mitá, “bed, couch”)). Cognate with German Matte (“mat”), Danish måtte (“mat”), Faroese and Icelandic motta (“rug, mat”), Norwegian matte (“mat, rug”), Swedish matta (“carpet, rug, mat”).

Related words

hazmat mat bean mat leave mat rep mat sci transmat

Derived words

algal mat baking mat bath mat beer mat biomat bouldering mat camping mat chair mat cocomat collision mat crashmat dance mat demat doormat dustmat filtermat floor mat floormat gauze mat go to the mat intermat mat amaranth matball matboard mat daisy matgrass matless matlike matmaker matmaking matman mat slab matty matweed mouse mat on the mat paunch mat place mat playmat prayer mat roll mat sea mat Siskiyou mat sleeping mat slipmat splat mat surf mat sword mat table mat tablemat tumbling mat welcome mat yoga mat Zanzibar mat unmat

Translations

Bulgarian: подложка Chinese Mandarin: 桌墊 /桌垫 Dutch: mat Dutch: onderlegger Dutch: placemat Finnish: alunen German: Matte German: Unterlage Italian: sottopiatto Russian: подста́вка Spanish: salvamanteles Spanish: posavasos (coaster) Swedish: matta Thai: เสื่อ
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