tatami
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of tatami
From Japanese, dating back to 1895–1900; noun use of the verb: “to fold up”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They later discovered termites under the tatami mats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026
The two young opponents, clad in crisp white karategi with coloured belts and protective headgear, circled each other on the tatami, the floor covering used for practising Japanese martial arts.
From Barron's ● Nov. 17, 2025
It's unclear whether it has worked – Mr Hakamata still paces back and forth for hours, just as he did for years in a jail cell the size of three single tatami mats.
From BBC ● Dec. 20, 2024
“Not what is lost but what is found when you do safety meetings in two languages and you learn not to walk onto tatami mats with your utility boots.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2024
She took students in her barracks cubicle, which was fitted out like a little Buddhist shrine, with tatami mats on the floor.
From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
