metate
noun
me·ta·te mə-ˈtä-tē 
: a stone with a concave upper surface used as the lower millstone for grinding grains and especially corn
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Nearby rests a portable metate (mortar and pestle) that once belonged to her grandmother. 
Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2022 Don’t expect a discus of corn — these take their shape from a metate (a stone Mesoamerican tool for grinding corn). Cesar Hernandez, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 Aug. 2022 Highlights include a statute of a Zapotec god of corn; a molcajete, or traditional Mexican mortar made from volcanic stone; a metate, or stone tool used for processing corn; and a pichancha, or clay strainer, according to a statement. Emily Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Mar. 2022 The raspadas take shape on a metate, a Mesoamerican tool used to mill corn. Cesar Hernandez, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Mar. 2022 The chocolate de metate dessert is inspired by the round Ibarra-brand chocolate powder tablets that Mexicans have dissolve in milk or water to make hot cocoa for generations. San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Mar. 2022 Her aunt places a par-cooked tortilla on the slanted stone and scrapes it with a cylindrical milling stone, spreading the masa to the end of the metate. Cesar Hernandez, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Mar. 2022 Each of the seating areas has a bench shaped like a metate and a brand that marks the cattle of that region. Los Angeles Times, 2 Dec. 2021 In a shaded courtyard overgrown with succulents, Margarita, with her graying pigtails and brightly embroidered apron, had crushed rice, which had been soaking for an hour or so, on a metate, a hollowed, mortarlike stone. New York Times, 11 Nov. 2021 See More
Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2022 Don’t expect a discus of corn — these take their shape from a metate (a stone Mesoamerican tool for grinding corn). Cesar Hernandez, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 Aug. 2022 Highlights include a statute of a Zapotec god of corn; a molcajete, or traditional Mexican mortar made from volcanic stone; a metate, or stone tool used for processing corn; and a pichancha, or clay strainer, according to a statement. Emily Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Mar. 2022 The raspadas take shape on a metate, a Mesoamerican tool used to mill corn. Cesar Hernandez, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Mar. 2022 The chocolate de metate dessert is inspired by the round Ibarra-brand chocolate powder tablets that Mexicans have dissolve in milk or water to make hot cocoa for generations. San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Mar. 2022 Her aunt places a par-cooked tortilla on the slanted stone and scrapes it with a cylindrical milling stone, spreading the masa to the end of the metate. Cesar Hernandez, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Mar. 2022 Each of the seating areas has a bench shaped like a metate and a brand that marks the cattle of that region. Los Angeles Times, 2 Dec. 2021 In a shaded courtyard overgrown with succulents, Margarita, with her graying pigtails and brightly embroidered apron, had crushed rice, which had been soaking for an hour or so, on a metate, a hollowed, mortarlike stone. New York Times, 11 Nov. 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
Spanish, from Nahuatl metatl
First Known Use
1625, in the meaning defined above