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matador

- 4 dictionary results

mat⋅a⋅dor

  [mat-uh-dawr]
Use matador in a Sentence
–noun
1. the principal bullfighter in a bullfight who passes the bull with a muleta and then, in many countries, kills it with a sword thrust; a torero.
2. one of the principal cards in skat and certain other games.
3. (initial capital letter) a jet-powered U.S. surface-to-surface missile.
Origin:
1665–75; < Sp, equiv. to mata(r) to kill (perh. < VL *mattāre, presumed deriv. of LL mattus soft, weak; cf. matte 1 ) +-dor -tor
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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mat·a·dor   (māt'ə-dôr')   
n.  
  1. A bullfighter who performs the final passes and kills the bull.
  2. Games One of the highest trumps in certain card games.

[Spanish, from matar, to kill, possibly from Vulgar Latin *mattāre, to beat senseless, perhaps from Latin mattus, stupefied; see mat2.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Matador

Mat"a*dor\, n. 1. [Skat] The jack of clubs, or any other trump held in sequence with it, whether by the player or by his adversaries.

2. A certain game of dominoes in which four dominoes (the 4-3, 5-2, 6-1, and double blank), called matadors, may be played at any time in any way.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : matador
Spanish: matador, torero,
German: der Matador,
Japanese: 闘牛士
More Translations »

matador 
1674, from Sp. matador, lit. "killer," from matar "to kill or wound," probably from Arabic mata "he died," from Persian (see second element in checkmate).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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