mat
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mat¹
- /mæt/ UK
- /mæt/ US
- [mæʔ(t̚)] US
Sounds like Matt, matte · Rhymes with -æt
Where it comes from
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”).
noun mats
- 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.
- 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.
- A floor pad to protect athletes. The high jumper cleared the bar and landed safely on the mat.
- A thickly tangled mess. a mat of weeds
- A thin layer of woven, non-woven, or knitted fiber that serves as reinforcement to a material.
- A thin surface layer; superficial cover. Iceland moss growing in a mat
verb mats · matting · matted
- To cover, protect or decorate with mats. Be careful now to keep the Doors and Windows of your Conservatories well matted
- To form a thick, tangled mess; to interweave into, or like, a mat; to entangle. And o'er his eyebrows hung his matted hair.
mat²
noun mats
- Clipping of material I used up all my mats cranking 90s and ended up getting one-pumped.
mat³
Where it comes from
Compare matte.
noun mats · matt
- An alloy of copper, tin, iron, etc.; white metal.
- Alternative form of matte (“instrument for producing a dull, lustreless surface”).
verb mats · matting · matted · matt
- Alternative form of matte (“to produce a dull, lustreless surface on metal”).
mat⁴
noun mats
- Abbreviation of matinee (“performance at a theater”). 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".
mat⁵
noun mats
- Alternative spelling of matte (“decorative border around a picture”). the mat of a daguerreotype
adjective
- Alternative form of matte (“not reflecting light”). Frons mat black, orbits slightly paler, more greyish; mesonotum distinctly mat, greyish-black, but with some subshine; […]
mat⁶
noun mats
- Clipping of matrix
mat⁷
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Russian мат (mat), abbreviated from the expression ма́терная брань (máternaja branʹ), ultimately from мать (matʹ, “mother”).
noun
- Vulgar, obscene, or profane language in Russian and some other Slavic language communities. 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]) ma
Mat⁸
- /mæt/
- /mat/
Rhymes with -at
proper noun Mats
- A diminutive of the male given name Matthew.
- a Malay man
MAT⁹
noun MATs
- Initialism of medication-assisted treatment
- Initialism of Master of Arts in Teaching
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: felt, place mat, tangle, entangle, snarl, flatness, flat, matt, matte, dull, lusterlessness, felt up, mat up, tatami, carpeting, carpet
Translations
Every language
noun protector
| Español | salvamanteles, posavasos (coaster) |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 桌墊 /桌垫 zhuōdiàn |
| Deutsch | Matte, Unterlage |
| Italiano | sottopiatto |
| Русский | подста́вка podstávka |
noun foot wiping device or floor covering
| Español | alfombrilla, felpudo, limpiabarros, felpo, choapino |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 매트 maeteu |
| 日本語 | マット matto |
| 中文 | 席 xí, 門口地墊 /门口地垫 ménkǒu dìdiàn, 擦腳墊 /擦脚垫 cājiǎodiàn |
| हिन्दी | पायदान pāydān |
| Kiswahili | mkeka |
| Português | capacho, esteira |
| Français | paillasson, tapis, carpette, natte |
| Deutsch | Matte |
| Italiano | stuoia, stoino, graticcio, zerbino |
| Română | rogojină |
| Русский | ко́врик kóvrik, полови́к polovík, цино́вка cinóvka, мат mat, подсти́лка podstílka |
| العربية | حَصِيرَة ḥaṣīra |
noun athletics: protective pad
| Español | colchoneta |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Matte |
| Italiano | materassino |
| Русский | мат mat, подсти́лка podstílka |
noun thickly tangled mess
| Français | épais fouillis |
|---|---|
| Русский | ком kom, клубо́к klubók, of hair колту́н koltún |
noun thin layer of fiber as reinforcement
| Русский | подсти́лка podstílka |
|---|
verb cover, protect, decorate with mats
| Deutsch | mit Matten auslegen |
|---|
verb form a thick tangled mess
| Deutsch | verfilzen |
|---|
Talk about this word "mat." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mat. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. mat. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mat "mat." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mat.Cite this
@misc{mat_2026,
title = {mat},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mat},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
