n.
Pronunciation: ' mat
Function: noun
Etymology: French, from Middle French, crude metal, curdled milk, from feminine of mat thick, dull, matte
Date: 1839
1 : a crude mixture of sulfides formed in smelting sulfide ores of metals (as copper, lead, or nickel)
2 : a motion-picture effect in which part of a scene is blocked out and later replaced by footage containing other material (as a background painting)