matamata
noun
matamata is spelled M-A-T-A-M-A-T-A: 8 letters. It appears about once in every 36 million words in written English, the 184,844th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, matamata means “A side-necked turtle of species Chelus fimbriata, whose shell resembles a dead leaf” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of matamata is matamatas.
How many letters and syllables are in matamata?
| Letters | 8: M-A-T-A-M-A-T-A |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 36 million words; the 184,844th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is matamata?
Matamata appears about once in every 36 million words in written English, the 184,844th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Forms of matamata
- matamatas plural
- mata mata
- matamata turtle
- mata mata turtle
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does matamata mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A side-necked turtle of species Chelus fimbriata, whose shell resembles a dead leaf.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Matamata in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense turtle:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | matamata |
| Portuguese | matamatá, tartaruga-matamatá |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does matamata come from?
Borrowed from Brazilian Portuguese matamatá, from Nheengatu and Old Tupi matamatá.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).