matte1
or mat, matt
[mat]
- having a dull or lusterless surface: matte paint; a matte complexion; a photograph with a matte finish.
Show More
- a dull or dead surface, often slightly roughened, as on metals, paint, paper, or glass.
- a tool for producing such a surface.
- Metallurgy. an unfinished metallic product of the smelting of certain sulfide ores, especially those of copper.
- Movies. matte shot.
Show More
- to finish with a matte surface.
Show More
Origin of matte1
1640–50; < French mat (masculine), matte (feminine), Old French < Late Latin mattus moist, soft, weak, perhaps < *maditus, derivative of Latin madēre to be wet
matte2
[mat]
- 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.
Show More
Origin of matte2
< German; akin to mat1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for matte
Contemporary Examples
The shell is a combination of matte and shiny plastics, but it still feels like a solid piece of hardware.
PlayStation 4 Review: The PS4 and the Gorgeous Next Generation of GamingAlec Kubas-Meyer
November 15, 2013
The real Chloë is notorious for wearing beige and houndstooth and orange, matte lipstick, and sarcastic chunk wedges.
Then, the merkin is applied with an adhesive; Ledermann uses a matte substance by Telesis.
Historical Examples
Matte Enamel, medium weight; Enameled, medium weight; Velvet, medium weight.
Bromide Printing and EnlargingJohn A. Tennant
Matte and Maie grew fat on this fine living, and daily became richer.
The Lilac Fairy BookAndrew Lang
There was once a fisherman who was called Salmon, and his Christian name was Matte.
The Lilac Fairy BookAndrew Lang
The German term in the Glossary for panes ex pyrite is stein, the same as the modern German for matte.
De Re MetallicaGeorgius Agricola
The matte is roasted, re-smelted with lead, and no doubt a button obtained, and further matte.
De Re MetallicaGeorgius Agricola
matte1
- an impure fused material consisting of metal sulphides produced during the smelting of a sulphide ore
Show More
Word Origin
C19: from French
matte2
- films television a mask used to blank out part of an image so that another image can be superimposed
Show More
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for matte
n.
"backing for a picture," 1845, from French; see mat (n.2).
Show More
n.
variant of mat (n.2).
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper