metate

American  

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

noun

plural

metates

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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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

Now and then she flicked bits of cinnamon onto the pocked ashen surface of the metate.

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

A very large metate, twenty-four inches long and fifteen inches wide, much worn, the middle of the curve being three and one-half inches below the surface.

From Illustrated Catalogue of the Collections Obtained from the Indians of New Mexico in 1880 Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1880-81, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1883, pages 429-466 by Stevenson, James