mate

• IPA^(key): /meɪt/
  • (US, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): [meɪt]

    • Audio (US):

      (file)

  • (Standard Southern British) IPA^(key): [mɛjt]
  • (Canada, Scotland) IPA^(key): [meːt]
  • (General Australian) IPA^(key): [mæɪt]

    • Audio (General Australian):

      (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪt

From Middle English mate, a borrowing from Middle Low German mate (“messmate”) (replacing Middle English mette (“table companion, mate, partner”), from Old English ġemetta (“sharer of food, table-guest”)), derived from Proto-Germanic *gamatjô, itself from *ga- (“together”) (related to German and Dutch ge-) + *matjô (from *matiz (“food”)), related to Old English mete (“food”)). From the same Middle Low German source stems German Low German Maat (“journeyman, companion”), German Maat (“naval non-commissioned officer”). Cognates include Saterland Frisian Moat (“friend, buddy, comrade, mate”), Dutch maat (“mate, partner, colleague, friend”). More at Old English ġe-, English co-, English meat. Doublet of maat.

Compare typologically Latin compāniō (whence companion) (< con- + panis + -ō), Russian однока́шник (odnokášnik) (< одно- (odno-) + ка́ша (káša) + -ник (-nik)).

mate (plural mates)

1. A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate.

   Synonyms: fellow, (poetic, archaic) fere

   • 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 152:

     A "mate" was a "mate" - share and share alike, no matter how bad might be the times, or how long a spell of ill luck had attended them.

2. (especially of a non-human animal) A breeding partner.
   • 2015 April 16, Richard P. Grant, “Sex and the successful fundraiser”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Such overt displays of avowed sexual prowess – or at least, desperate availability – are not limited to the countryside. Even in the city, birds and animals and stockbrokers and nurses find ways of signalling their suitability as a mate.

3. (colloquial, British, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, sometimes elsewhere in the Commonwealth) A friend, usually of the same sex.

   Synonyms: friend, buddy; see also Thesaurus:friend

   I'm going to the pub with a few mates.

   He's my best mate.

4. (colloquial, British, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, sometimes elsewhere in the Commonwealth) Friendly term of address to a stranger, usually male, of similar age.

   Synonym: buddy

   Excuse me, mate, have you got the time?

5. (nautical) In naval ranks, a non-commissioned officer or his subordinate (e.g. Boatswain's Mate, Gunner's Mate, Sailmaker's Mate, etc).
6. (nautical) A ship's officer, subordinate to the master on a commercial ship.
7. (nautical) A first mate.
8. A technical assistant in certain trades (e.g. gasfitter's mate, plumber's mate); sometimes an apprentice.
9. The other member of a matched pair of objects.

   I found one of the socks I wanted to wear, but I couldn't find its mate.

10. A suitable companion; a match; an equal.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

      Ye knew me once no mate / For you; there sitting where you durst not soar.

• In British English and Irish English, "mate" typically carries more masculine connotations than in Australian English and New Zealand English, in which the word is used as a unisex term.

mate (third-person singular simple present mates, present participle mating, simple past and past participle mated)

1. (intransitive) To match, fit together without space between.

   Synonyms: match, couple, pair

   The pieces of the puzzle mate perfectly.

2. (intransitive) To copulate.

   Synonyms: couple; see also Thesaurus:copulate

   • 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 172:

     “In fact, the apes live with us, and have for many ages. We call them the first men—we speak their language quite as much as we do our own; only in the rituals of the temple do we make any attempt to retain our mother tongue. In time it will be forgotten, and we will speak only the language of the apes; in time we will no longer banish those of our people who mate with apes, and so in time we shall descend to the very beasts from which ages ago our progenitors may have sprung.”

3. (intransitive) To pair in order to raise offspring.
4. (transitive) To arrange in matched pairs.
5. (transitive) To introduce (animals) together for the purpose of breeding.
6. (transitive, of an animal) To copulate with.
7. (transitive) To marry; to match (a person).
   • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

     If she be mated with an equal husband.

8. (transitive, obsolete) To match oneself against; to oppose as equal; to compete with.
   • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Death”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:

     There is no passion in the mind of man so weak but it mates and masters the fear of death.

   • 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

     I, […] in the way of loyalty and truth, […] / Dare mate a sounder man than Surrey can be.

9. (transitive) To fit (objects) together without space between.
10. (intransitive) To come together as companions, comrades, partners, etc.
    • 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 152:

      Indeed, some cases of devotion that were met with were quite touching; and very often to all appearances the pairs were not always mated from the same class of society.

11. (transitive, aerospace) To move (a space shuttle orbiter) onto the back of an aircraft that can carry it.

    Antonym: demate

• mating

From Middle English verb maten, from Middle French mater, from Old French noun mat (“checkmate”), from Persian شاه مات (šâh mât).

mate (plural mates)

1. (chess) Clipping of checkmate.

mate (third-person singular simple present mates, present participle mating, simple past and past participle mated)

1. (chess) Clipping of checkmate.

From Middle English maten (“to overpower”), from Old French mater (“to kill”), from Vulgar Latin *mattō, of unclear origin.

mate (third-person singular simple present mates, present participle mating, simple past and past participle mated)

1. (obsolete) To confuse; to confound.
   • c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

     I think you are all mated, or stark mad.

See maté.

mate (plural mates)

2. Alternative spelling of maté, an aromatic tea-like drink prepared from the holly yerba maté (Ilex paraguariensis).
3. The abovementioned plant; the leaves and shoots used for the tea

• AEMT, ATEM, Atem, META, Meta, Tame, Team, Tema, meat, meta, meta-, tame, team

mate

1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of matar

Borrowed from Spanish mate.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmate/ [ˈma.t̪e]
• Hyphenation: ma‧te

mate (Badlit spelling ᜋᜆᜒ)

1. (chess) a checkmate

mate (Badlit spelling ᜋᜆᜒ)

1. (chess) to checkmate; to put the king of an opponent into checkmate

mate (Badlit spelling ᜋᜆᜒ)

1. (chess) checkmate

For quotations using this term, see Citations:mate.

• IPA^(key): [ˈmatɛ]

mate

1. third-person singular present of mást

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ma‧te

mate f (plural maten, diminutive maatje n)

1. archaic form of maat (“measure”)

mate

1. (archaic) dative singular of maat degree, extent

   in welke mate ― to what degree

   in zekere mate ― to a certain degree

   in hoge mate ― to a great degree

   met mate ― in moderation

   In welke mate voel je je verantwoordelijk voor het ongeluk? ― To what degree do you feel responsible for the accident?

• The usage of mate in modern Dutch likely mostly reflects a survival of its dative case form. The old nominative mate is more rare, although in a number of collocations such as de mate waarin ("the degree to which") it is still encountered, and with the simplification of the case system the old distinction between the nominative and old dative has become muddled.

mate

1. (dated or formal) singular past subjunctive of meten

• Audio:

  (file)

mate m (uncountable, no diminutive)

1. alternative spelling of maté

From Proto-Central-Pacific *mate, from Proto-Oceanic *mate, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(m-)atay, from Proto-Austronesian *(m-)aCay.

mate

1. dead (no longer alive)

mate

1. death

• IPA^(key): /mat/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

mate

1. feminine singular of mat

mate

1. inflection of mater:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

• méat

• IPA^(key): /ˈmate/ [ˈma.t̪ɪ]
• Rhymes: -ate
• Hyphenation: ma‧te

Borrowed from French mat, mate.

mate m or f (plural mates)

1. matte (not reflective of light)

From xaque mate (“checkmate”), from Arabic شَاه مَاتَ (šāh māta), from Persian شاه مات (šâh mât, “the king [is] dead”).

mate m (plural mates)

1. (chess) mate, checkmate

   Synonym: xaque mate

Borrowed from Quechua mati.

mate m (plural mates)

2. maté (the drink prepared from yerba maté (Ilex paraguariensis)
3. Ilex paraguariensis, a plant used to make maté

   Synonym: herba mate

From matar (“kill”).

mate m (plural mates)

1. (basketball) dunk (the act of dunking, particularly in basketball)

mate

1. inflection of matar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

• “mate”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025
• “mate”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2025

matē

1. romanization of 𐌼𐌰𐍄𐌴

• IPA^(key): /ˈma.te/
• Rhymes: -ate
• Hyphenation: mà‧te

From Latin māter, from Proto-Italic *mātēr, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr.

mate m (plural mati)

1. (obsolete) mother

   Synonym: madre

• pate

Borrowed from Spanish mate, from Quechua mati (“gourd”).

• matè (influenced from French maté)

mate m (invariable)

1. yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis)
2. maté (beverage)

• mate¹ in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• mate² in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

• Meta, meta, meta-, metà, team, tema

mate

1. Rōmaji transcription of まて

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(m-)atay (“die; dead; sick; tired (of)”), from Proto-Austronesian *ma-aCay (“die; dead; eclipse of sun or moon”), from Proto-Austronesian *aCay (“death”). Compare Ilocano matay, Tagalog matay, Bikol Central matay, Cebuano matay, Maranao matay, and Malay mati.

• IPA^(key): /məˈte/ [məˈtɛ]
• Hyphenation: ma‧te

mate

1. dead

mate

1. to die

mate

1. to die

• haʼmate (“to kill”)

• Rina, A. Dj.; Kabba, John Lado B. (2011), “mate”, in Kamus Bahasa Lamboya, Kabupaten Sumba Bakat [Dictionary of Lamboya Language, West Sumba Regency], Waikabubak: Dinas Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata, Kabupaten Sumba Bakat, page 66

• (locative singular) IPA^(key): /mɐˈtɛ/, [mɐˈtʲɛ]
• (vocative singular) IPA^(key): /ˈmɐːtɛ/, [ˈmɐːtʲɛ]

matè

1. locative singular of mãtas (“measure”)

mãte

1. vocative singular of mãtas (“measure”)

mate

1. saliva

From Proto-Polynesian *mate, from Proto-Oceanic *mate, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(m-)atay, from Proto-Austronesian *(m-)aCay.

mate

1. death
2. sickness, illness, disease
3. misfortune, calamity, defect
4. desire, need, want

mate(stative)

1. to be dead, deceased, killed
2. to be sick, ill, unwell, diseased
3. to be defeated, conquered, beaten, overcome
4. to be in want of, deeply in love

• “mate” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.

mate (Raguileo spelling)

1. The drink maté, prepared of yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis).

• matetun

• Wixaleyiñ: Mapucezugun-wigkazugun pici hemvlcijka (Wixaleyiñ: Small Mapudungun-Spanish dictionary), Beretta, Marta; Cañumil, Dario; Cañumil, Tulio, 2008.

From Middle Low German mate, from Old Saxon gimato, from Proto-West Germanic *gamatjō. Doublet of mette.

• mat, mayte

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaːt(ə)/

mate (plural mates)

1. mate (companion, comrade)
2. mate (shipmate)
3. (rare) person, human

• English: mate
• Scots: mate

• “māte, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

mate

1. alternative form of mat (“checkmate”)

mate

1. alternative form of mat (“checkmate”)

mate

1. alternative form of mat (“checkmate”)

mate

1. alternative form of mat (“tired”)
2. inflection of mat:
   1. weak singular
   2. strong/weak plural

mate

1. alternative form of maten (“to checkmate”)

mate

1. alternative form of maten (“to overpower”)

From mat.

mate (imperative mat, present tense mater, passive mates, simple past and past participle mata or matet, present participle matende)

1. to feed

• fôre (about animals)

• mat (noun)

• “mate” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

mate

1. inflection of mata (“dead; thought”):
   1. masculine/neuter locative singular
   2. masculine accusative plural
   3. feminine vocative singular

mate

1. locative singular of mata (“opinion”)

Borrowed from Spanish mate, from Quechua mati.

• IPA^(key): /ˈma.tɛ/
• Rhymes: -atɛ
• Syllabification: ma‧te
• Homophone: matę

mate f (indeclinable)

1. maté, yerba mate (shrub that produces the beverage maté)

   Synonym: yerba mate

2. maté, yerba mate (beverage maté)

   Synonym: yerba mate

• mate in Polish dictionaries at PWN

• Rhymes: (Brazil) -at͡ʃi, (Portugal) -atɨ
• Hyphenation: ma‧te

Borrowed from Spanish mate, borrowed from Quechua mati.

mate m (uncountable) (South Brazil)

1. maté (Ilex paraguariensis) (a shrub native to southern South America)

   Synonyms: erva mate, erva

2. maté (a beverage prepared from the leaves of this plant)

   Synonym: chimarrão

• → Hunsrik: Matt

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

mate

1. inflection of matar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

From Proto-Polynesian *mate, from Proto-Oceanic *mate, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(m-)atay, from Proto-Austronesian *(m-)aCay.

mate

1. dead (no longer alive)

mate

1. to die

Clipping of matematică.

mate f (uncountable)

1. (colloquial) maths

From Proto-Bantu *màtáì.

maté class 6

1. saliva (liquid secreted into the mouth)

• IPA^(key): /ˈmate/ [ˈma.t̪e]
• Rhymes: -ate
• Syllabification: ma‧te

Borrowed from French mat, mate.

mate m or f (masculine and feminine plural mates)

1. matte (not reflective of light)

From jaque mate (“checkmate”), from Arabic شَاه مَاتَ (šāh māta), from Persian شاه مات (šâh mât, “the king [is] dead”).

mate m (plural mates)

1. (chess) mate, checkmate

   Synonym: jaque mate

2. (colloquial, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua) a hand gesture

   Synonym: ademán

   Siempre me dan gracia sus mates. ― I always find his hand gestures funny.

3. (colloquial, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua) a feint; something feigned; a simulation
4. (colloquial, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua) a gesture that hints something

Borrowed from Quechua mati.

mate m (plural mates)

2. maté (the drink prepared from yerba maté (Ilex paraguariensis))
3. a hollow gourd or cup in which maté is traditionally served

   Synonym: porongo

4. Ilex paraguariensis, a plant used to make maté

   Synonyms: yerba mate, hierba mate

5. (colloquial, Southern Cone) head (top part of the body)

   Synonym: cabeza

• → English: maté, mate, matë
• → French: maté
• → Portuguese: mate
  • → Hunsrik: Matt
• ⇒ Arabic: مَتَّة (matta)

Possibly from mate in the sense of "dull" or "not reflective of light."

mate m or f (masculine and feminine plural mates)

1. (South America) tan, tanned (skin colour)

   Synonyms: bronceado, tostado

Clipping of matemática.

mate f (plural mates)

1. (colloquial) math / maths

   Synonym: mates

Deverbal from matar (“kill”).

mate m (plural mates)

1. (basketball) dunk, slam dunk (the act of dunking: put the ball directly downward through the hoop while grabbing onto the rim with power)

   Synonyms: clavada, volcada, retacada, hundida, donqueo

mate

1. inflection of matar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

• “mate”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
• “mate”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010
• Roberts, Edward A. (2014), A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN

From Proto-Bantu *màtáì.

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

mate class VI (plural only)

1. saliva

• matte (dated)

Borrowed from Spanish mate, from Quechua mati.

mate n

1. maté (beverage)

   Synonym: paraguayte

   • 1900, Jane Gernandt-Claine, Pampan‎^[2], Gernandts förlag, accessed at Litteraturbanken.se, courtesy of Uppsala universitetsbibliotek, archived from the original on 16 August 2025, page 57:

     [E]stancieron hade lärt sin syster att dricka mate.

     The estanciero had taught his sister to drink maté.

• mateblad

• mate in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker
• matte in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Borrowed from Spanish mate, from jaque mate (“checkmate”), from Arabic شَاه مَاتَ (šāh māta), from Persian شاه مات (šâh mât, “the king [is] dead”).

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈmate/ [ˈmaː.t̪ɛ]
• Rhymes: -ate
• Syllabification: ma‧te

mate (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜆᜒ) (chess)

1. checkmate

• “mate”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2024

From Proto-Polynesian *mate, from Proto-Oceanic *mate, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(m-)atay, from Proto-Austronesian *(m-)aCay.

mate

1. dead (no longer alive)

mate

1. to die

From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *mate, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(m-)atay, from Proto-Austronesian *(m-)aCay.

mate

1. dead (no longer alive)

mate

1. death

mate

1. to die

• Fransiskus Monteiro (1985), Kamus Tetun-Indonesia [Tetum-Indonesian Dictionary] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan

• IPA^(key): [ˈma.te]
• Hyphenation: ma‧te

From Proto-Polynesian *mate. Cognates include Hawaiian make and Samoan mate.

mate (plural mamate)

1. (intransitive) to die
2. (stative) to be paralysed
3. (intransitive, of fire) to go out
4. (intransitive, of players) to go out
5. (intransitive, of engines) to stop

• In the sense "to die", mate is normaly used to refer to plants and animals.
• When used to refer to a human, mate may be perceived as either disrespectful or humorous.

From Proto-Polynesian *mate. Cognates include Tongan mate and Samoan mate.

mate

1. guess

mate

1. (transitive) to guess

mate

1. (to a male) sororal nephew

• R. Simona, editor (1986), Tokelau Dictionary‎^[3], Auckland: Office of Tokelau Affairs, page 229

From Proto-Polynesian *mate.

• IPA^(key): /ma.te/

mate

1. death
2. the dead

mate

1. dead

From Proto-Oceanic *mate, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(m-)atay, from Proto-Austronesian *aCay.

• IPA^(key): /mate/

mate

1. to die

• Ross, Malcolm D. (2016), Andrew Pawley, editor, The lexicon of Proto-Oceanic: Volume 5, People: body and mind, Canberra: Australian National University, →ISBN, →OCLC; republished as Meredith Osmond, editor, (Please provide a date or year)