mattock
/ˈmætək/noun, verb
mattock is spelled M-A-T-T-O-C-K: 7 letters. It appears about once in every 15 million words in written English, the 118,441st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, mattock means “An agricultural tool whose blades are at right angles to the body, similar to a pickaxe” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of mattock is mattocks.
How many letters and syllables are in mattock?
| Letters | 7: M-A-T-T-O-C-K |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 15 million words; the 118,441st 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 mattock?
Mattock appears about once in every 15 million words in written English, the 118,441st 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).
How do you pronounce mattock?
- /ˈmætək/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-mattock.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of mattock
- mattocks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- mattocking participle, present
- mattocked participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does mattock mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An agricultural tool whose blades are at right angles to the body, similar to a pickaxe.
verb
- 1
To cut or dig with a mattock.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Mattock in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense agricultural tool:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pioche-hache |
| German | Mattock, Hacke, Breithacke, Rodehacke, Karst, Queraxt |
| Portuguese | sacho |
| Spanish | zapapico, azadón, azada, zapa |
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 mattock come from?
From Middle English mattok (“mattock, pickaxe”), from Old English mattuc, meottoc, mettoc (“mattock, fork, trident”), from Proto-West Germanic *mattjuk (“mattock, ploughshare”), from Proto-Indo-European *met- (“to cut, reap”). Related to Old High German medela (“plough”), Middle High German metze, metz (“knife”), Latin mateola (“implement for digging in the soil”), Polish motyka (“hoe, mattock”), Russian моты́га (motýga, “hoe, mattock”), Lithuanian matikkas (“mattock”), Sanskrit मत्य (matyà, “harrow, roller, club”). More at mason.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).