metate

American  

[muh-tah-tee, me-tah-te] / məˈtɑ ti, mɛˈtɑ tɛ /

noun

metates plural

1. a flat stone that has a shallow depression in the upper surface for holding maize or other grains to be ground with a mano.

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• metates
  plural

Etymology

Origin of metate

1825–35, < Mexican Spanish < Nahuatl metlatl

Example Sentences

The woman's mother had buried her molcajete, metate, comal, and cazuelas in a hole in the ground and fled.

From Salon • Feb. 23, 2023

Each of the seating areas has a bench shaped like a metate and a brand that marks the cattle of that region.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 2, 2021

In a shaded courtyard overgrown with succulents, Margarita, with her graying pigtails and brightly embroidered apron, had crushed rice, which had been soaking for an hour or so, on a metate, a hollowed, mortarlike stone.

From New York Times • Nov. 11, 2021

An original mano and metate, a pair of stones used for grinding, lay on the dirt floor of one room.

From Slate • Jun. 12, 2015

The older women are winnowing grain and grinding at the metate.

From The Arrow-Maker A Drama in Three Acts by Austin, Mary Hunter