tatami

See also: tàtàmǐ

English

a portion of a tatami floor in a Japanese-style inn

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 畳 (tatami).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /təˈtɑːmi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

tatami (plural tatamis or tatami)

1. Straw matting, in a standard size, used as a floor covering in Japanese houses.
   • 1964, John Berryman, chapter 31, in 77 Dream Songs, New York: Farrar, Straus and Company, page 35:

     Heny Hankovitch, con guítar, / did a short Zen pray, / on his tatami in a relaxed lotos / fixin his mind on nuffin, rose-blue breasts,

   • 1999, William Gibson, All Tomorrow's Parties (Bridge trilogy; book 3), New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →ISBN, page 2:

     Small tools are spread on the tatami: a razor knife, a sprue cutter, curls of emery paper.

2. A unit of area equal to a standard-sized tatami mat, approximately 1.65 square metres.

Derived terms

• tatamied

Translations

straw matting in Japanese houses

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 榻榻米 (zh) (tàtàmǐ), 疊席 / 叠席 (diéxí)

• Czech: tatami (cs) f or n
• Esperanto: tatamo
• Finnish: tatami (fi)
• French: tatami (fr) m
• German: Tatami (de) f
• Hungarian: tatami (hu)
• Japanese: 畳 (ja) (たたみ, tatami), たたみ (ja) (tatami)
• Korean: 다다미 (ko) (dadami)
• Marathi: तातामि f (tātāmi)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tatami m, tatamimatte m

• Persian: تاتامی (tâtâmi)
• Portuguese: tatame (pt) m
• Russian: тата́ми (ru) m or n (tatámi)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: тата̀ми m

  Latin: tatàmi (sh) m

• Spanish: tatami (es) m

Anagrams

• Tiamat

Basque

Etymology

Ultimately from Japanese 畳 (tatami).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tatami/ [t̪a.t̪a.mi]
• Rhymes: -ami, -i
• Hyphenation: ta‧ta‧mi

Noun

tatami inan

1. tatami
   • 2001 December 28, Goienkaria, number 47, page 47:

     Bigarren solairuan gimnasioa eta tatami gela jarriko dituzte.

     On the second floor, a gym and a tatami room will be installed.

Declension

Declension of tatami (inan V-stem)

	indefinite	singular	plural	proximal plural
absolutive	tatami	tatamia	tatamiak	tatamiok
ergative	tatamik	tatamiak	tatamiek	tatamiok
dative	tatamiri	tatamiari	tatamiei	tatamioi
genitive	tatamiren	tatamiaren	tatamien	tatamion
comitative	tatamirekin	tatamiarekin	tatamiekin	tatamiokin
causative	tatamirengatik	tatamiarengatik	tatamiengatik	tatamiongatik
benefactive	tatamirentzat	tatamiarentzat	tatamientzat	tatamiontzat
instrumental	tatamiz	tatamiaz	tatamiez	tatamiotaz
inessive	tatamitan	tatamian	tatamietan	tatamiotan
locative	tatamitako	tatamiko	tatamietako	tatamiotako
allative	tatamitara	tatamira	tatamietara	tatamiotara
terminative	tatamitaraino	tatamiraino	tatamietaraino	tatamiotaraino
directive	tatamitarantz	tatamirantz	tatamietarantz	tatamiotarantz
destinative	tatamitarako	tatamirako	tatamietarako	tatamiotarako
ablative	tatamitatik	tatamitik	tatamietatik	tatamiotatik
partitive	tatamirik	—	—	—
prolative	tatamitzat	—	—	—

Finnish

Etymology

From Japanese 畳 (tatami).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɑtɑmi/, [ˈt̪ɑ̝t̪ɑ̝mi]
• Rhymes: -ɑtɑmi
• Syllabification^(key): ta‧ta‧mi
• Hyphenation^(key): ta‧ta‧mi

Noun

tatami

1. tatami

Declension

Inflection of tatami (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		tatami	tatamit
genitive		tatamin	tatamien
partitive		tatamia	tatameja
illative		tatamiin	tatameihin
		singular	plural
nominative		tatami	tatamit
accusative	nom.	tatami	tatamit
	gen.	tatamin
genitive		tatamin	tatamien
partitive		tatamia	tatameja
inessive		tatamissa	tatameissa
elative		tatamista	tatameista
illative		tatamiin	tatameihin
adessive		tatamilla	tatameilla
ablative		tatamilta	tatameilta
allative		tatamille	tatameille
essive		tatamina	tatameina
translative		tatamiksi	tatameiksi
abessive		tatamitta	tatameitta
instructive		—	tatamein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of tatami (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative tatamini tatamini accusative nom. tatamini tatamini gen. tatamini genitive tatamini tatamieni partitive tatamiani tatamejani inessive tatamissani tatameissani elative tatamistani tatameistani illative tatamiini tatameihini adessive tatamillani tatameillani ablative tatamiltani tatameiltani allative tatamilleni tatameilleni essive tataminani tatameinani translative tatamikseni tatameikseni abessive tatamittani tatameittani instructive — — comitative — tatameineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative tatamisi tatamisi accusative nom. tatamisi tatamisi gen. tatamisi genitive tatamisi tatamiesi partitive tatamiasi tatamejasi inessive tatamissasi tatameissasi elative tatamistasi tatameistasi illative tatamiisi tatameihisi adessive tatamillasi tatameillasi ablative tatamiltasi tatameiltasi allative tatamillesi tatameillesi essive tataminasi tatameinasi translative tatamiksesi tatameiksesi abessive tatamittasi tatameittasi instructive — — comitative — tatameinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative tatamimme tatamimme accusative nom. tatamimme tatamimme gen. tatamimme genitive tatamimme tatamiemme partitive tatamiamme tatamejamme inessive tatamissamme tatameissamme elative tatamistamme tatameistamme illative tatamiimme tatameihimme adessive tatamillamme tatameillamme ablative tatamiltamme tatameiltamme allative tatamillemme tatameillemme essive tataminamme tatameinamme translative tatamiksemme tatameiksemme abessive tatamittamme tatameittamme instructive — — comitative — tatameinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative tataminne tataminne accusative nom. tataminne tataminne gen. tataminne genitive tataminne tatamienne partitive tatamianne tatamejanne inessive tatamissanne tatameissanne elative tatamistanne tatameistanne illative tatamiinne tatameihinne adessive tatamillanne tatameillanne ablative tatamiltanne tatameiltanne allative tatamillenne tatameillenne essive tataminanne tatameinanne translative tatamiksenne tatameiksenne abessive tatamittanne tatameittanne instructive — — comitative — tatameinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative tataminsa tataminsa accusative nom. tataminsa tataminsa gen. tataminsa genitive tataminsa tatamiensa partitive tatamiaan tatamiansa tatamejaan tatamejansa inessive tatamissaan tatamissansa tatameissaan tatameissansa elative tatamistaan tatamistansa tatameistaan tatameistansa illative tatamiinsa tatameihinsa adessive tatamillaan tatamillansa tatameillaan tatameillansa ablative tatamiltaan tatamiltansa tatameiltaan tatameiltansa allative tatamilleen tatamillensa tatameilleen tatameillensa essive tataminaan tataminansa tatameinaan tatameinansa translative tatamikseen tatamiksensa tatameikseen tatameiksensa abessive tatamittaan tatamittansa tatameittaan tatameittansa instructive — — comitative — tatameineen tatameinensa

Further reading

• “tatami”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023

Anagrams

• Mattia, maitat, maitta, matita, mitata, mittaa

French

Noun

tatami m (plural tatamis)

1. tatami

Further reading

• “tatami”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Indonesian

Etymology

From Japanese 畳(たたみ) (tatami, “tatami mat”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /taˈtami/ [t̪aˈt̪a.mi]
• Rhymes: -ami
• Syllabification: ta‧ta‧mi

Noun

tatami (plural tatami-tatami)

1. (literal) tatami: straw matting, in a standard size, used as a floor covering in Japanese houses.
2. (sports) mattress

   Synonym: matras

Derived terms

• bertatami

Further reading

• “tatami”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Japanese

Romanization

tatami

1. Rōmaji transcription of たたみ

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /taˈta.mi/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ami
• Syllabification: ta‧ta‧mi

Noun

tatami m pers

1. instrumental plural of tata

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 畳 (たたみ (tatami).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /taˈtami/ [t̪aˈt̪a.mi]
• Rhymes: -ami
• Syllabification: ta‧ta‧mi

Noun

tatami m (plural tatamis)

1. tatami

Further reading

• “tatami”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025