Matte

How to spell matte

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce matte

What does matte mean?

1. adjectiveHaving a dull, flat surface that does not reflect light or appear glossy.
2. nounA mask or painted backdrop used in film and photography to combine or block parts of an image.

Matte in a sentence

• adjective

  She chose a matte finish for the walls to hide the small bumps in the plaster.

• noun

  The studio painted a sweeping mountain range as a matte behind the actors.

• adjective

  The photographer printed the portraits on matte paper to reduce glare.

• noun

  The editor used a matte to blend the live footage with the digital background.

Where does matte come from?

Language of origin: French

This word comes from the French adjective mat, meaning 'dull', 'dead', or 'without shine', which English borrowed in the seventeenth century. The French term itself is usually traced to a late Latin word mattus, which carried the sense of 'dazed', 'sodden', or even 'drunk', and from there drifted toward the idea of something flat, weary, and lacking brightness. English at first used the bare spelling 'mat' or 'matt', but the form 'matte', with the silent French -e restored, became common, especially in photography, cinema, and cosmetics where a controlled non-reflective surface mattered. The same French mat also gives us the 'mate' in 'checkmate', which traces back through Arabic and Persian to the phrase 'the king is helpless', a quite separate thread that shows how the short spelling has wandered. The lingering trap is the extra letters: an adult who knows the floor 'mat' has to remember that the dull finish keeps the doubled t and the silent e.

How the word is built

• matte (from French mat: dull, lustreless)
• silent -e

Words that sound like matte

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• mat: A small piece of coarse or padded material placed on a surface, often to wipe shoes, protect a floor, or cushion something.