Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

mattock

/ˈmætək/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.81 in modern English

Syllables
mat-tock
IPA
/ˈmætək/
15
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

An agricultural tool whose blades are at right angles to the body, similar to a pickaxe.

verb

To cut or dig with a mattock.

name

A surname.

Example Sentences

Etymology

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.

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: mattok, mattuc, *mattjuk, *met-

Inflected Forms

mattocks (plural) mattocks (present, singular) mattocking (participle, present) mattocked (participle, past) mattocked (past)

Frequently Paired Words

adze hoe pick twibill

Questions

How do you pronounce mattock?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈmætək/.
What does mattock mean?
An agricultural tool whose blades are at right angles to the body, similar to a pickaxe.
Where does mattock come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce mattock

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “mattock”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈmætək/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “mattock”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “mattock” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.