tatami

Where does the word "tatami" come from? It comes from Japanese tatami, and was adopted directly into English (1800s-1900s).

Tatami’s story begins in Japanese: tatami meant “a straw floor mat.” A woven straw floor mat. It reached English by 1800s-1900s as tatami. Japanese rooms are measured by the number of tatami mats. Today, tatami means a traditional Japanese floor mat woven from rice straw.

1. Stage 1 · Japanese · medieval tatami "a straw floor mat", a woven straw floor mat.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1800s-1900s tatami "a traditional Japanese woven floor mat", Japanese rooms are measured by the number of tatami mats.