mat English · revision 15453

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 725}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mæt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|matte]], [[inh|ang|matte]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) [[bor|la-lat|matta|t=mat of rushes]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) probably from Punic or Phoenician, compare [[hbo|מִטָּה|tr=miṭṭā|t=bed, couch]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) The Latin word also gave [[de|Matte]] and [[nl|mat]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A piece of coarse fabric of plaited rushes or straw, used as bedding or a floor covering: about 725 in the OED, before 800 in Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A piece of material laid on a surface for protection is a nautical use from the 15th century,^(Hoad 1986) and a small mat under a dish or plate is by 1800.^(Etymonline) A tangled mass is from 1835.^(Etymonline) The padded mat of gymnasts and wrestlers is from 1892, hence ''to go to the mat'', to do battle (1910),^(Etymonline) and ''on the mat'', in trouble with authority, from 1898.^(OED 1989) The verb is from the early 15th century, to make mats, and to become tangled from the 1570s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – matte.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1549 – to cover with mats.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1577 – to tangle.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1800 – a table mat.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1892 – a gymnastics mat.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A piece of thick material laid on the floor, as for wiping one's feet or as a rug.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A small piece of material placed under a dish, lamp or the like to protect a surface.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A thick padded floor covering for [[gymnastics]], [[wrestling]] or [[judo]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A thick tangled mass, as of hair.^(Etymonline)^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To become tangled into a thick mass, or to make so.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[matless]]

+ * [[cocomat]]

+ * [[intermat]]

+ * [[matty]]

+ * [[doormat]]

+ * [[place mat]]

+ * [[welcome mat]]

+ * [[bath mat]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[matting]]

+ * [[mattress]]

+ * [[napkin]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A different mat (also matt, matte), dull and without lustre, is from French [[m|fr|mat]], from the 17th century.^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) In East Anglia a mat was a mattock for grubbing out furze.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}