mat
/mæt/ noun, verb, proper noun
Also a form of matinee
Forms mats matting matted matt
- noun A flat piece of coarse material used for wiping one’s feet, or as a decorative or protective floor covering. “Wipe your feet on the mat before coming in.”
- noun A small flat piece of material used to protect a surface from anything hot or rough; a coaster. “They put mats on the table during mealtimes.”
- noun (athletics) A floor pad to protect athletes. “The high jumper cleared the bar and landed safely on the mat.”
- noun A thickly tangled mess. “a mat of weeds”
- noun A thin layer of woven, non-woven, or knitted fiber that serves as reinforcement to a material.
- noun A thin surface layer; superficial cover. “Iceland moss growing in a mat”
- verb (transitive) To cover, protect or decorate with mats.
- verb (intransitive) To form a thick, tangled mess; to interweave into, or like, a mat; to entangle.
- noun (coppersmithing) An alloy of copper, tin, iron, etc.; white metal.
- noun Vulgar, obscene, or profane language in Russian and some other Slavic language communities.
- proper noun A diminutive of the male given name Matthew.
- proper noun (Singapore, ethnic slur) a Malay man
Synonyms
matting gym mat Master of Arts in Teaching flatness lusterlessness lustrelessness matt matte entangle tangle snarl felt felt up mat up matt-up matte up flat matted
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”).
Compare matte.
Borrowed from Russian мат (mat), abbreviated from the expression ма́терная брань (máternaja branʹ), ultimately from мать (matʹ, “mother”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A name given by coppersmiths to an alloy of copper, tin, iron, etc., usually called white metal. [Written also matt.]
- adjective Cast down; dejected; overthrown; slain. [Obs.]
- noun A fabric of sedge, rushes, flags, husks, straw, hemp, or similar material, used for wiping and cleaning shoes at the door, for covering the floor of a hall or room, and for other purposes.
- noun Any similar fabric for various uses, as for covering plant houses, putting beneath dishes or lamps on a table, securing rigging from friction, and the like.
Etymology [Cf. Matte.]
Etymology [OF. See 4th Mate.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “mat”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details