metate
- noun
- /ˈmɛtəteɪ/
- Specialized
:
metate
- Bad Belly frowned as he ran the tips of his fingers through the hollow concave of Bitter-brush's metate, the grinding slab, where she milled seeds and roots into flour.
- metate for grinding
Examples
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The work, performed by hand using grinding stones sometimes referred to by the Spanish terms mano and metate, is grueling, akin to the difficult labor that boys face in the fields.
Academic text (2004) -
The husks were then removed, leaving behind nibs that would be ground on a stone metate into a paste, which would have tasted like unsweetened dark chocolate.
Academic text (2010) -
The show is called "Metate"; it airs the second Friday of the month from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m.
Fiction book (2002) -
Project director Lisa Leap examines a metate, or grinding slab, in the Colorado River.
Academic text (2009) -
The driveway was edged with 33 metates, or ancient grinding stones.
Academic text (2009) -
A coffee mug, a jade ornament, a metate, a faceted diamond, or the like could stay as it was, encysted in stone, indefinitely.
Fiction book (1992) -
In traditional Mexican kitchens, a metate is essential for grinding corn into masa for tortillas.
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The ancient metate in the museum shows how indigenous people ground seeds for their meals.
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Farmers often use a metate to grind grains into flour for baking bread.
Surface Forms
Etymology
Metate comes from the Nahuatl word metlatl, which means 'grinding stone'. You can think of a metate as a simple hand 'mill', a flat or slightly hollow stone used to grind maize or seeds, so the name matches the tool's use.
