mat

C2+ Topic:Materials & Substances

US /mæt/ UK /mæt/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like math /θ/ vs /t/ Sounds like met /ɛ/ vs /æ/

Meanings

1

noun
a piece of coarse fabric for the floor; also to become tangled

Wipe your feet on the mat before coming inside.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a piece of coarse fabric... rug pad carpet tangle felt knot

Word family

Forms matsmattedmattestmatting

Derived forms mattedmattingmatter

Related forms mattdoormatmatte

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

welcome mat
a small mat outside a door on which people wipe their shoes before entering

Noun + noun

Etymology

From Old English matt, meatt ('mat'), an early Germanic borrowing of Late Latin matta ('mat of rushes'), itself probably of Semitic origin (compare Hebrew miṭṭāh 'bed'). The verb sense 'to become tangled' arose from the appearance of woven matting.

matt Old English matta Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Materials & Substances

External links

# mat

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /mæt/
**IPA (UK):** /mæt/

## Meanings
1. a piece of coarse fabric for the floor; also to become tangled

## Examples
- Wipe your feet on the mat before coming inside.

## Synonyms
- rug
- pad
- carpet
- tangle
- felt
- knot

## Derived Forms
- matted
- matting
- matter

## Related Forms
- matt
- doormat
- matte

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: matt
- Root: matta

## Etymology
From Old English matt, meatt ('mat'), an early Germanic borrowing of Late Latin matta ('mat of rushes'), itself probably of Semitic origin (compare Hebrew miṭṭāh 'bed'). The verb sense 'to become tangled' arose from the appearance of woven matting.

## AI Etymology
Mat is from Old English matt, meatt ('mat'), an early Germanic borrowing of Late Latin matta ('mat of rushes'), itself probably of Semitic origin (compare Hebrew miṭṭāh 'bed'). The verb sense 'to become tangled' arose from the appearance of woven matting. Important recorded forms include matt (Old English) and matta (Latin). Its deeper history remains uncertain, with proposed links left as possibilities rather than a single settled derivation. The current sense covers a piece of coarse fabric for the floor; also to become tangled. The wider family includes derived forms such as matted, matting, and matter and related words such as matt, doormat, and matte.

## Topics
- Materials & Substances

markdown

mat