matting

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The act or process of producing a dull or roughened surface on metal; specifically, the process of covering plates with varnish in gilding on water-size.
• noun A dull, slightly roughened surface, free from polish, produced by the use of the mat.
• noun In stained glass, color laid on to deaden a surface or to render glass less transparent.
• noun Materials for mats; matwork.
• noun A fabric of some coarse material, as rushes, flags, grass, straw, hemp, bamboo, etc., used for covering floors, as a packing for some kinds of goods, and for various other purposes.
• noun Nautical, a texture made of strands of old rope, or of spun-yarn, beaten flat and interwoven, used to prevent chafing.
• noun The mat of a picture.—

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun The act of interweaving or tangling together so as to make a mat; the process of becoming matted.
• noun Mats, in general, or collectively; mat work; a matlike fabric, for use in covering floors, packing articles, and the like; a kind of carpeting made of straw, etc.
• noun Materials for mats.
• noun An ornamental border. See 3d Mat, 4.
• noun A dull, lusterless surface in certain of the arts, as gilding, metal work, glassmaking, etc.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun mats, a collection of ground coverings
• noun coarse fabric, of the kind used to make mats
• noun a dull surface, often used for surrounding pictures; matte
• verb Present participle of mat.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun mounting consisting of a border or background for a picture
• noun a covering of coarse fabric (usually of straw or hemp)