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mater

 - 8 dictionary results

ma⋅ter

  [mey-ter]
Use mater in a Sentence
–noun, plural -ters, -tres  [-treez] .
1. British Informal. mother 1 .
2. the backing holding the movable parts of an astrolabe.
Origin:
1585–95; < L māter

mat

3  [mat]
–adjective, noun, verb, mat⋅ted, mat⋅ting.
matte 1 .

matte

1  [mat] adjective, noun, verb, mat⋅ted, mat⋅ting.
–adjective
1. having a dull or lusterless surface: matte paint; a matte complexion; a photograph with a matte finish.
–noun
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. Metallurgy. an unfinished metallic product of the smelting of certain sulfide ores, esp. those of copper.
5. Movies. matte shot.
–verb (used with object)
6. to finish with a matte surface.
Also, mat, matt.

Origin:
1640–50; < F mat (masc.), matte (fem.), OF < LL mattus moist, soft, weak, perh. < *maditus, deriv. of L madēre to be wet
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To mater
ma·ter   (mā'tər)   
n.   Chiefly British
Mother.

[Latin māter; see māter- in Indo-European roots.]
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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Word Origin & History

mat 
O.E. matte, from L.L. matta "mat made of rushes" (4c.), probably from Punic or Phoenician (cf. Heb. mittah "bed, couch"). Meaning "piece of padded flooring used in gymnastics or wrestling" is attested from 1903. Matted "tangled and lying flat" (of hair, etc.) is from 1613.

matte  (adj.)
1648, "lusterless," from Fr. mat "dull, dead surface," from O.Fr. mat "beaten down, withered," probably from L. mattus "maudlin with drink," from madere "to be wet or sodden, be drunk," from PIE base *mad- "to be wet, drip" (see mastectomy). Noun sense "backing for a picture" is an 1845 borrowing from Fr.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 2mat
Function: noun
: a mat colony of bacteria

Main Entry: mater
—see DURA MATER, PIAMATER
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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