Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Variant of mat2.
- adj. Variant of mat2.
- n. A mixture of a metal with its sulfides, produced by smelting the sulfide ores of copper, lead, or nickel.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In metallurgy, a product of the smelting of sulphureted ores, obtained in the process which next follows the roasting. The object of this process is to remove the oxid of iron present in the roasted ore, by causing it to combine with silica, with which it forms a fusible slag. Also called
regulus and coarse metal.
Wiktionary
- n. A decorative border around a picture
- n. A background, often painted or created with computers
- adj. dull, not reflective of light
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A partly reduced copper sulphide, obtained by alternately roasting and melting copper ore in separating the metal from associated iron ores, and called
coarse metal ,fine metal , etc., according to the grade of fineness. On the exterior it is dark brown or black, but on a fresh surface is yellow or bronzy in color. - n. A dead or dull finish, as in gilding where the gold leaf is not burnished, or in painting where the surface is purposely deprived of gloss.
- adj. Having a dull, lusterless surface finish; opposed to
glossy orpolished .
WordNet 3.0
- adj. not reflecting light; not glossy
- n. the property of having little or no contrast; lacking highlights or gloss
- n. a mixture of sulfides that forms when sulfide metal ores are smelted
- v. change texture so as to become matted and felt-like
Etymologies
- French, curdled milk, matte, from feminine of obsolete mat, compact, from Old French, dull, from Latin mattus, stupefied; see mat2.
Examples
“Paraguay tea, which they call matte, as I mentioned before, is always drunk twice a day: this is brought upon a large silver salver, with four legs raised upon it, to receive a little cup made out of a small calabash or gourd, and tipped with silver.”
“He figured if the plain matte finish worked, why not make them camo?”
“As Del said the 8400 in matte makes an excellent hunting rifle.”
“Rustoleum makes great sprays in matte finish that would do a good job.”
“Maybe will get my nails done in matte black with white letters and punctuation marks.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Times Square bombing — where were the cameras?
“The newest additions to the line, the ShortTrac and LongTrac Stalker models, feature composite stocks and forearms in matte-black finish and European styling.”
“Flat finishes, also called matte paint jobs, are an emerging trend in luxury car design.”
The Wall Street Journal: India's Top Vehicle Maker Looks to Africa
“Even the plastic itself looks great -- more of what I'd call a matte finish with some texture, rather than a high gloss/smooth texture finish.”
“In the 1920s, he functioned as cinematographer for producer Harry Garson and, in the sound era, worked extensively with visual effects, helping to develop the technique known as matte painting.”
“But the truth of the matte is the public, and the audience, the producers have always known, that the public has an appetite, is interested in dramas that happen in courtrooms and in hospitals.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘matte’.
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Special Effects
Trick lighting, mirrors, and other ways to create illusions.
yellowscreen, sodium vapor process, bluescreen, optical effect, mechanical effect, Schüfftan process, optical printing, matte, chroma keying, traveling matte, greenscreen, glass shot and 16 more...

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