mat¹ (măt)

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[Middle English, from Old English matte, from Late Latin matta, of Phoenician origin.]

noun 

1. A flat piece of coarse fabric or other material used for wiping one's shoes or feet, or in various other forms as a floor covering.
2. A small flat piece of decorated material placed under a lamp, dish of food, or other object.
3. Sports A floor pad to protect athletes, as in wrestling or gymnastics.
4. A densely woven or thickly tangled mass: a mat of hair.
5. The solid part of a lace design.
6. A heavy woven net of rope or wire cable placed over a blasting site to keep debris from scattering.

verb: mat·ted, mat·ting, mats. 

transitive verb 

1. To cover, protect, or decorate with mats or a mat.
2. To pack or interweave into a thick mass: High winds matted the leaves against the base of the fence.

intransitive verb 

To be packed or interwoven into a thick mass; become entangled.

mat² (măt)

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[From French, dull, from Old French, defeated, withered, perhaps from Latin mattus, stupefied, senseless, possibly from * maditus past participle of madēre, to be wet.]

noun 

1. A decorative border placed around a picture to serve as a frame or provide contrast between the picture and the frame.
2. 1. A dull, often rough finish, as of paint, glass, metal, or paper.
   2. A special tool for producing such a surface or finish.
3. Printing See matrix

transitive verb: mat·ted, mat·ting, mats. 

1. To put a mat around (a picture).
2. To produce a dull finish on.

adjective 

Having a dull finish.

abbreviation 

Master of Arts in Teaching

ma·trix (mā́trĭks)

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[Middle English matrice, from Old French, from Late Latin mātrīx, mātrīc-, from Latin, breeding-animal, from māter, mātr-, mother.]

noun: pl., ma·tri·ces (mā́trĭ-sēź, măt́rĭ-) or ma·trix·es 

1. A situation or surrounding substance within which something else originates, develops, or is contained: “Freedom of expression is the matrix, the indispensable condition, of nearly every form of freedom” (Benjamin N. Cardozo)
2. The womb.
3. Anatomy
   1. The formative cells or tissue of a fingernail, toenail, or tooth.
   2. See ground substance
4. Geology
   1. The solid matter in which a fossil or crystal is embedded.
   2. Groundmass.
5. A mold or die.
6. The principal metal in an alloy, as the iron in steel.
7. A binding substance, as cement in concrete.
8. 1. Mathematics A rectangular array of numeric or algebraic quantities subject to mathematical operations.
   2. Something resembling such an array, as in the regular formation of elements into columns and rows.
9. Computer Science The network of intersections between input and output leads in a computer, functioning as an encoder or a decoder.
10. Printing
    1. A mold used in stereotyping and designed to receive positive impressions of type or illustrations from which metal plates can be cast. Also called mat²
    2. A metal plate used for casting typefaces.
11. An electroplated impression of a phonograph record used to make duplicate records.