Mat or matt?
mat is a noun meaning “A flat piece of coarse material used for wiping one’s feet, or as a decorative…”; matt is an adjective meaning “Alternative spelling of matte”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) matt is about 5.1 times as common as mat.
What is the difference between mat and matt?
| mat | matt | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb, adjective | adjective, noun, verb |
| Meaning | A flat piece of coarse material used for wiping one’s feet, or as a decorative or protective floor covering A small flat piece of material used to protect a surface from anything hot or rough; a coaster To cover, protect or decorate with mats | UKAlternative spelling of matte Alternative spelling of matte (“background, often painted or created with computers”) Alternative spelling of mat (“an alloy in coppersmithing”) |
| Example | Wipe your feet on the mat before coming in | none recorded |
| Forms | mats | none |
| Pronunciation | /mæt/ [mæʔ(t̚)] | not recorded |
| In writing | 6.9 times per million words | 35 times per million words |
Sources: mat and matt in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of mat and matt
mat
- 1
A flat piece of coarse material used for wiping one’s feet, or as a decorative or protective floor covering
Wipe your feet on the mat before coming in
- 2
To cover, protect or decorate with mats
- 3
slangClipping of material
I used up all my mats cranking 90s and ended up getting one-pumped
- 4
An alloy of copper, tin, iron, etc.; white metal
- 5
Alternative form of matte (“to produce a dull, lustreless surface on metal”)
- 6
datedslangAbbreviation of matinee (“performance at a theater”)
- 7
Alternative spelling of matte (“decorative border around a picture”)
the mat of a daguerreotype
- 8
Alternative form of matte (“not reflecting light”)
matt
- 1
UKAlternative spelling of matte
- 2
Alternative spelling of matte (“background, often painted or created with computers”)
- 3
Alternative form of matte (“to produce a dull, lustreless surface on metal”)
- 4
Alternative spelling of mat (“an alloy in coppersmithing”)
- 5
Alternative form of matte (“instrument for producing a dull, lustreless surface”)
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, mat or matt?
mat appears 6.9 times per million words; matt 35 times per million words.
mat 6.9 times per million wordsmatt 35 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search mat vs matt?
“mat vs matt” is searched about 390 times a month on Google and 30 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“matt vs mat”, “mat or matt”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.