Dictionary

mat en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /mæt/ (UK)
• [mæʔ(t̚)] (US)
• (US) audio
• /mæt/ (US)
• măt (US)
• măt (UK)

Etymology

Etymology tree Old English meatte Middle English matte English mat 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”).

Meanings

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. A floor pad to protect athletes.
   • The high jumper cleared the bar and landed safely on the mat.
4. A thickly tangled mess.
   • a mat of weeds
   • But to return to where we left her, I see her still, propped up in a kind of stupor against one of the walls in which this wretched edifice abounds, her long grey greasy hair framing in its cowl of scrofulous mats a face where pallor, languor, hunger, acne, recent dirt, immemorial chagrin and surplus hair seemed to dispute the mastery. 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC:
   • and now only a sord of Mallards drifted through the dense mats of New Zealand pigmyweed that coated the surface of the water. 2018, Steve Burrows, A Tiding of Magpies: A Birder Murder Mystery, Oneworld Publications:
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.
   • Iceland moss growing in a mat
   • The fad for blaming all mass extinctions (such as happened at the end of the Cretaceous when the dinosaurs vanished) on impacts of objects from space was extended to the Pleistocene in 2007. That year a group of scientists proposed that the North American extinctions were due to a comet or meteorite impact over the Carolinas, near the beginning of the Younger Dryas event, about 12,900 years ago. The original evidence for this supposed impact was a "black mat" of organic material in many Clovis sites, plus microscopic nano-diamonds in deep-sea cores, and rare Platinum group metals in Greenland ice cores from around 12,900 years ago. 2016 November 15, Donald R. Prothero, The Princeton Field Guide to Prehistoric Mammals, page 222:

Forms

Deriveds

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

Descendants

マット · mat · mat · мат · mat

Translations (122)

ru ко́врик (foot wiping device or floor covering) · bo གདན (foot wiping device or floor covering) · nn matte (foot wiping device or floor covering) · mbf tiker (foot wiping device or floor covering) · ml തടുക്ക് (foot wiping device or floor covering) · nl mat (protector) · cmn 門口地墊 /门口地垫 (foot wiping device or floor covering) · bg подложка (protector) · da måtte (foot wiping device or floor covering) · bni litoko (foot wiping device or floor covering) · es salvamanteles (protector) · no matte (foot wiping device or floor covering) · ru клубо́к (thickly tangled mess) · fi alunen (protector) · nl deurmat (foot wiping device or floor covering) · ang meatte (foot wiping device or floor covering) · th พรมเช็ดเท้า (foot wiping device or floor covering) · it zerbino (foot wiping device or floor covering) · fi takku (thickly tangled mess) · ki mũgeka (foot wiping device or floor covering) · ota حصیر (foot wiping device or floor covering) · zdj ɗao (foot wiping device or floor covering) · pt esteira (foot wiping device or floor covering) · hu gyékény (foot wiping device or floor covering) · nl turnmat (athletics: protective pad) · es colchoneta (athletics: protective pad) · eo mato (foot wiping device or floor covering) · sv matta (foot wiping device or floor covering) · it graticcio (foot wiping device or floor covering) · it sottopiatto (protector) · id tikar (foot wiping device or floor covering) · zdj tapi (foot wiping device or floor covering) · es limpiabarros (foot wiping device or floor covering) · cmn 桌墊 /桌垫 (protector) · ru цино́вка (foot wiping device or floor covering) · zdj mkeka (foot wiping device or floor covering) · es felpo (foot wiping device or floor covering) · bg постилка (athletics: protective pad) · it stuoia (foot wiping device or floor covering) · ja マット (foot wiping device or floor covering) · enm matte (foot wiping device or floor covering) · ru полови́к (foot wiping device or floor covering) · nl mat (athletics: protective pad) · de Matte (foot wiping device or floor covering) · es choapino (foot wiping device or floor covering) · pl wycieraczka (foot wiping device or floor covering) · grc κάνης (foot wiping device or floor covering) · fa زیلو (foot wiping device or floor covering) · la storea (foot wiping device or floor covering) · ru подсти́лка (foot wiping device or floor covering) · la teges (foot wiping device or floor covering) · tr paspas (foot wiping device or floor covering) · sv matta (protector) · ca estora (foot wiping device or floor covering) · es felpudo (foot wiping device or floor covering) · az döşəkçə (athletics: protective pad) · th พรม (foot wiping device or floor covering) · es alfombrilla (foot wiping device or floor covering) · it materassino (athletics: protective pad) · sv matta (athletics: protective pad) · fi matto (foot wiping device or floor covering) · arz حصيرة (foot wiping device or floor covering) · fi matto (thin layer of fiber as reinforcement) · mn чийрс (foot wiping device or floor covering) · es posavasos (coaster) (protector) · nl placemat (protector) · cy mat (foot wiping device or floor covering) · cmn 擦腳墊 /擦脚垫 (foot wiping device or floor covering) · so dermo (foot wiping device or floor covering) · rif tajartitš (foot wiping device or floor covering) · tft jongutu (foot wiping device or floor covering) · hu lábtörlő (foot wiping device or floor covering) · hi पायदान (foot wiping device or floor covering) · ru of hair колту́н (thickly tangled mess) · th เสื่อ (protector) · fi matto (athletics: protective pad) · fr épais fouillis (thickly tangled mess) · hu csomó (thickly tangled mess) · ru подсти́лка (athletics: protective pad) · fr carpette (foot wiping device or floor covering) · nl mat (foot wiping device or floor covering) · it stoino (foot wiping device or floor covering) · grc φορμός (foot wiping device or floor covering) · is motta (foot wiping device or floor covering) · tet biti (foot wiping device or floor covering) · ga straille (thickly tangled mess) · bg изтривалка (foot wiping device or floor covering) · cmn 席 (foot wiping device or floor covering) · mi whāriki (foot wiping device or floor covering) · ru ком (thickly tangled mess) · mi tūhara (foot wiping device or floor covering) · ro rogojină (foot wiping device or floor covering) · nl onderlegger (protector) · pon lohs (foot wiping device or floor covering) · ru мат (athletics: protective pad) · tby jongutu (foot wiping device or floor covering) · ru мат (foot wiping device or floor covering) · de Unterlage (protector) · fr tapis (foot wiping device or floor covering) · de Matte (protector) · ln litoko (foot wiping device or floor covering) · rif ajartir (foot wiping device or floor covering) · de Matte (athletics: protective pad) · ru подста́вка (protector) · pt capacho (foot wiping device or floor covering) · acw دَعَّاسة (foot wiping device or floor covering) · fi kangas (thin layer of fiber as reinforcement) · fr paillasson (foot wiping device or floor covering) · ml പായ (foot wiping device or floor covering) · fr natte (foot wiping device or floor covering) · ko 매트 (foot wiping device or floor covering) · sw mkeka (foot wiping device or floor covering) · grc ψίαθος (foot wiping device or floor covering) · ddg petu (foot wiping device or floor covering) · uli choob (foot wiping device or floor covering) · ms tikar (foot wiping device or floor covering) · cs rohožka (foot wiping device or floor covering) · pl mata (athletics: protective pad) · ar حَصِيرَة (foot wiping device or floor covering) · oj anaakan (foot wiping device or floor covering) · ru подсти́лка (thin layer of fiber as reinforcement) · pl mata (foot wiping device or floor covering)

mat en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /mæt/ (UK)
• [mæʔ(t̚)] (US)
• (US) audio
• /mæt/ (US)
• măt (US)
• măt (UK)

Etymology

Etymology tree Old English meatte Middle English matte English mat 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”).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To cover, protect or decorate with mats.
   • Be careful now to keep the Doors and Windows of your Conservatories well matted 1664, J[ohn] E[velyn], “Kalendarium Hortense: Or, The Gard’ners Almanac; […] ”, in Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesties Dominions. […], London: […] Jo[hn] Martyn, and Ja[mes] Allestry, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC:
2. (intransitive) To form a thick, tangled mess; to interweave into, or like, a mat; to entangle.
   • And o'er his eyebrows hung his matted hair. 1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

Forms

Deriveds

unmat

Translations (3)

bg оплитам (form a thick tangled mess) · de verfilzen (form a thick tangled mess) · de mit Matten auslegen (cover, protect, decorate with mats)

mat en · NOUN · etymology 2

Etymology

Meanings

1. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, in-plural, slang) Clipping of material.
   alt of material
   • I used up all my mats cranking 90s and ended up getting one-pumped.
   • While there are game modes where you can build without any requirements, you'll need to harvest materials to build in normal Fortnite games. Mats is the shortened version of materials. [2020 November 28, Gökhan Çakır, “Common Fortnite terms and their meanings”, in Dot Esports, archived from the original on 21 May 2023:
   • The looper goes on laying more than a thousand mats in thirty seconds. He finally reaches his opponent, who is easily brought down with a shell of a shotgun and a burst of an SMG. Upon eliminating the opponent, he is ecstatic in celebration. 2022 July 16, Sarthak Chauhan, “Fortnite YouTuber using 1000 mats in less than 30 seconds shows exactly what not to do”, in Sportskeeda, archived from the original on 29 May 2023:
   • Using a Weapon Upgrade Bench, it's possible to upgrade a Common Shotgun, for example, all the way to Legendary provided you've harvested enough mats to do so. 2019 October 24, Christopher Groux, “'Fortnite' Weapon Upgrade Guide - Upgrade Bench Locations & More”, in Newsweek, New York, N.Y.: Newsweek Publishing LLC, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 Mar 2023:
   • Fortnite added a new trap with the Armored Wall reinforcement for mats and one viral TikTok showed just how deadly the new item can be in a close fight. 2021 September 25, Alan Bernal, “Viral Fortnite TikTok trick shows how to use Armored Walls for easy kills”, in Dexerto, archived from the original on 26 Oct 2021:

Forms

Relateds

hazmat

mat en · NOUN · etymology 3

Etymology

Compare matte.

Meanings

1. An alloy of copper, tin, iron, etc.; white metal.
2. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of matte (“instrument for producing a dull, lustreless surface”).
   alt of matte

Forms

mat en · VERB · etymology 3

Etymology

Compare matte.

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of matte (“to produce a dull, lustreless surface on metal”).
   alt of matte

Forms

mat en · NOUN · etymology 4

Etymology

Etymology tree French matinée English matineeclip. English mat A clipped form of matinee.

Meanings

1. (abbreviation, alt-of, dated, slang) Abbreviation of matinee (“performance at a theater”).
   alt of matinee
   • A gents' toilet room might be found in a house that caters for the cheaper class of theatrical patronage, where the slangy language of the "goin' to the mat this aft?" style prevails. A gents toilet room is not found in the Southern Hotel. It either "men's" or "gentlemen's". 1898, The Hotel/Motor Hotel Monthly, volume 6, page 27:

Forms

mat en · ADJ · etymology 5

Etymology

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of matte (“not reflecting light”).
   alt of matte
   • Frons mat black, orbits slightly paler, more greyish; mesonotum distinctly mat, greyish-black, but with some subshine; […] 2013, K. A. Spencer, Agromyzidae (Diptera) of Economic Importance, page 264:

mat en · NOUN · etymology 5

Etymology

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative spelling of matte (“decorative border around a picture”).
   alt of matte
   • the mat of a daguerreotype

Forms

mat en · NOUN · etymology 6

Etymology

Meanings

1. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping) Clipping of matrix.
   alt of matrix

Forms

mat en · NOUN · etymology 7

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian мат (mat), abbreviated from the expression ма́терная брань (máternaja branʹ), ultimately from мать (matʹ, “mother”).

Meanings

1. (uncountable) Vulgar, obscene, or profane language in Russian and some other Slavic language communities.
   • As the Russian mentality (hopefully) will be less medieval, mat will lose its social role. It will be less frequently used in the spoken language. From the other hand, books will lose its medieval sacrality, and mat will be allowed to be printed. 1993 June 22, Boris A. Veytsman, “Russian "mat" and Russian mentality”, in talk.politics.soviet (Usenet), archived from the original on 15 Aug 2025:
   • Most teenagers go through times when they use mat "rather heavily" among themselves. I guess they associate it with being adults. In most cases though this goes away pretty fast, usually when they start dating girls. Using mat rather heavily after graduating from university is a differnet^([sic]) matter. 1991 September 16, Michael Rabinovich, “Profanity in the USSR”, in soc.culture.soviet (Usenet), archived from the original on 15 Aug 2025:
   • Don't you people have anything better to do than collecting mat. I still can't undestand why people in (and from) the ex-USSR like to swear so much. 1993 March 31, Elena Tsifrina, “let's collect MAT”, in soc.culture.soviet (Usenet), archived from the original on 15 Aug 2025:

Relateds

mat bean (etymologically unrelated terms containing the word "mat") · transmat (etymologically unrelated terms containing the word "mat") · mat rep (etymologically unrelated terms containing the word "mat") · mat leave (etymologically unrelated terms containing the word "mat") · mat sci (etymologically unrelated terms containing the word "mat")