Tatami
/təˈtɑːmi/noun
A traditional Japanese floor mat made from woven rush covering a rice-straw or compressed-fiber core.
Did you know?Tatami were originally portable woven mats that could be folded or stacked, and their standardized dimensions later shaped the design and measurement of traditional Japanese rooms.
Etymological Timeline
Old Japanese
Japanese
tatamu
“To fold, pile up, or put away”
Heian Period
Japanese
tatami
“A folded or layered mat that could be placed on a floor when needed”
Medieval Japanese
Japanese
畳
“A rush-covered floor mat, increasingly used as a permanent flooring surface”
16th–17th Century
Japanese
tatami
“A standardized mat used to organize rooms and express social rank”
19th Century
English
tatami
“A Japanese floor mat; adopted as a loanword in English”
Modern English
English
tatami
“A traditional Japanese mat, also used for martial-arts flooring”
Explore more surprising origins