MAT

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English meatte, from Late Latin ~ta, of Semitic origin; akin to Hebrew miṭṭāh bed Date: before 12th century 1. a. a piece of coarse, woven, plaited, or felted fabric used especially as a floor covering or a support, a piece of ~erial placed at a door for wiping soiled shoe soles, a decorative piece of ~erial used under a small item (as a dish) especially for support or protection, a large thick pad or cushion used as a surface for wrestling, tumbling, and gymnastics, something made up of densely tangled or adhering filaments or strands especially of organic ~ter , a large slab usually of reinforced concrete used as the supporting base of a building, II. verb (~ted; ~ting) Date: 1549 transitive verb to provide with a ~ or ~ting, 2. to form into a tangled mass , to pack down so as to form a dense mass, intransitive verb to become ~ted, III. transitive verb (~ted; ~ting) Date: 1602 to make (as a metal, glass, or color) ~te, to provide (a picture) with a ~, see: ~te V. noun see: ~te Date: 1845 a border going around a picture between picture and frame or serving as the frame, VI. noun Date: 1904 ~rix 2a