Native Korean word. As a noun, 맛 (mat) has been part of the core Korean lexicon since the earliest recorded texts. It appears in compounds like 맛있다 ("to be tasty," literally "to have taste") and 맛없다 ("to be tasteless"), making it one of the most productive roots in everyday Korean.

Food culture is central to Korean social life, and 맛 is everywhere — from the phrase 맛집 (mat-jip, "a restaurant famous for its taste") to TV show titles. Complimenting someone's cooking with 맛있어요! is one of the warmest things you can say in Korean. Note: don't confuse 맛 with 맞다 (mat-da, "to be correct") — they sound almost identical but are unrelated in meaning.