the.com/placemat
the unsung shield standing between your dinner and the table's permanent regret
means A flat piece of fabric, plastic, or other material set under a single place setting to protect the table and mark out where one person eats.
from A transparent compound of "place" (in the sense of a "place setting," the spot laid for one diner at table) and "mat" — the latter from Old English "meatte," itself borrowed from Late Latin "matta," a mat of woven rushes. The word is a relatively modern table-setting coinage, naming the small mat that stakes out each person's place.
- french roots
- Named from the French word for napkin-adjacent table coverings
- hotel hack
- Diners read promos placed on placemats more than menus
- kid restraint
- Disposable placemats double as crayon battlefields nationwide
- germ trap
- Restaurant placemats often skip washing between every guest
williamsburg placemat — colonial williamsburg's historically accurate linen placemats sold in their gift shops since the 1930s
spode blue italian placemat — spode's iconic tableware line dating to 1784, still produced with matching placemats