Mat

Pronunciation

• UK enPR: măt, IPA: /mæt/
• US enPR: măt, IPA: /mæt/, mæʔ(tÌš)
• Homophones: Matt, matte
• Rhymes: -æt

Old English matte, from Late Latin matta, from Punic or Phoenician (compare Hebrew מיטה
מִטָּה (mitá, "bed, couch")).

Full definition of mat

Noun

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. (athletics) 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 hair; a mat of weeds
5. A thick paper or paperboard border used to inset and center the contents of a frame.the mat of a daguerreotype
6. A thin layer of woven, non-woven, or knitted fiber that serves as reinforcement to a material.
7. (gaming) A material or component needed for a crafting recipeTo make a luck potion, you need several rare herbs as mats.

Derived terms

• crash mat
• doormat
• mat slab
• place mat
• welcome mat

Verb

1. (transitive) To cover, protect or decorate with mats.
2. (intransitive) To form a thick, tangled mess; to interweave into, or like, a mat; to entangle.
• DrydenAnd o'er his eyebrows hung his matted hair.

Compare matte.

Alternative forms

• matt

Noun