matte 1
/mat/ , adj., n., v., matted, matting .
adj.
1. having a dull or lusterless surface: matte paint; a matte complexion; a photograph with a matte finish.
n.
2. a dull or dead surface, often slightly roughened, as on metals, paint, paper, or glass.
3. a tool for producing such a surface.
4. Metall. an unfinished metallic product of the smelting of certain sulfide ores, esp. those of copper.
5. Motion Pictures. See matte shot .
v.t.
6. to finish with a matte surface.
Also, mat, matt .
[ 1640-50; mat (masc.), matte (fem.), OF mattus moist, soft, weak, perh. maditus, deriv. of L madere to be wet ]
matte 2
/mat/ , n. Mining.
a mass of timber caved beneath overburden so as to cushion the fall of the overburden and separate it from mineral to be extracted beneath.
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