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mate

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "mate"
Languages (34)
English
Asturian • Cebuano • Czech • Dutch • Fijian • French • Galician • Gothic • Italian • Japanese • Kapampangan • Laboya • Lithuanian • Luba-Kasai • Maori • Mapudungun • Middle English • Norwegian Bokmål • Pali • Polish • Portuguese • Rapa Nui • Romanian • Shona • Spanish • Swahili • Swedish • Tagalog • Tahitian • Tetum • Tokelauan • Tongan • Uneapa
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English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

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)).

Noun

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:
      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.
Usage notes
  • 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.
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

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).
  8. (transitive, obsolete) To match oneself against; to oppose as equal; to compete with.
  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
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Etymology 2

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

    Noun

    mate (plural mates)

    1. (chess) Clipping of checkmate.
    Derived terms
    Translations

    Verb

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

    1. (chess) Clipping of checkmate.
    Translations

    Etymology 3

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

      Verb

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

      1. (obsolete) To confuse; to confound.

      Etymology 4

      See maté.

      Noun

      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

      Anagrams

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      Asturian

      Verb

      mate

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

      Cebuano

      Etymology

      Borrowed from Spanish mate.

      Pronunciation

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

      Noun

      mate (Badlit spelling ᜋᜆᜒ)

      1. (chess) a checkmate

      Verb

      mate (Badlit spelling ᜋᜆᜒ)

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

      Interjection

      mate (Badlit spelling ᜋᜆᜒ)

      1. (chess) checkmate

      Czech

      Pronunciation

      Verb

      mate

      1. third-person singular present of mást

      Dutch

      Pronunciation 1

      • Audio:(file)
      • Hyphenation: ma‧te

      Noun

      mate f (plural maten, diminutive maatje n)

      1. archaic form of maat (“measure”)

      Noun

      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?
      Usage notes
      • 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.

      Verb

      mate

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

      Pronunciation 2

      Noun

      mate m (uncountable, no diminutive)

      1. alternative spelling of maté
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      Fijian

      Etymology

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

      Adjective

      mate

      1. dead (no longer alive)

      Noun

      mate

      1. death

      French

      Pronunciation

      Adjective

      mate

      1. feminine singular of mat

      Verb

      mate

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

      Anagrams

      Galician

      Pronunciation

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

      Etymology 1

      Borrowed from French mat, mate.

      Adjective

      mate m or f (plural mates)

      1. matte (not reflective of light)

      Etymology 2

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

      Noun

      mate m (plural mates)

      1. (chess) mate, checkmate
        Synonym: xaque mate
      Derived terms

      Etymology 3

      Borrowed from Quechua mati.

      Noun

      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
      Derived terms
      • herba mate

      Etymology 4

      From matar (“kill”).

      Noun

      mate m (plural mates)

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

      Verb

      mate

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

      Further reading

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      Gothic

      Romanization

      matē

      1. romanization of 𐌼𐌰𐍄𐌴

      Italian

      Pronunciation

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

      Etymology 1

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

      Noun

      mate m (plural mati)

      1. (obsolete) mother
        Synonym: madre

      See also

      Etymology 2

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

      Alternative forms

      Noun

      mate m (invariable)

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

      Further reading

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

      Anagrams

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      Japanese

      Romanization

      mate

      1. Rōmaji transcription of まて

      Kapampangan

      Etymology

      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.

      Pronunciation

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

      Adjective

      mate

      1. dead

      Verb

      mate

      1. to die

      Derived terms

      Laboya

      Verb

      mate

      1. to die

      Derived terms

      • haʼmate (“to kill”)

      References

      • 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

      Lithuanian

      Pronunciation

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

      Noun

      matè

      1. locative singular of mãtas (“measure”)

      Noun

      mãte

      1. vocative singular of mãtas (“measure”)

      Luba-Kasai

      Noun

      mate

      1. saliva

      Maori

      Etymology

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

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /ˈmate/, [ˈmɐtɛ]

      Noun

      mate

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

      Derived terms

      • hanga mate
      • hari mate
      • kawe mate
      • mate hinengaro
      • mate hirinaki
      • mate huka
      • mate hukapuri
      • mate hukihuki
      • mate kai
      • mate koroputaputa
      • mate manawa
      • mate Pākehā
      • mate rino
      • mate roro
      • mate tākihi
      • mate tāne
      • mate taurekareka
      • mate urutā
      • mate wahine
      • mate wai

      Verb

      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

      Further reading

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

      Mapudungun

      Noun

      mate (Raguileo spelling)

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

      See also

      References

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

      Middle English

      Etymology 1

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

      Alternative forms

      Pronunciation

      Noun

      mate (plural mates)

      1. mate (companion, comrade)
      2. mate (shipmate)
      3. (rare) person, human
      Descendants
      • English: mate
      • Scots: mate
      References

      Etymology 2

      Interjection

      mate

      1. alternative form of mat (“checkmate”)

      Noun

      mate

      1. alternative form of mat (“checkmate”)

      Adjective

      mate

      1. alternative form of mat (“checkmate”)

      Etymology 3

      Adjective

      mate

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

      Etymology 4

      Verb

      mate

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

      Etymology 5

      Verb

      mate

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

      Norwegian Bokmål

      Etymology

      From mat.

      Verb

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

      1. to feed

      Synonyms

      References

      Pali

      Alternative forms

      Alternative scripts
      • 𑀫𑀢𑁂 (Brahmi script)
      • मते (Devanagari script)
      • মতে (Bengali script)
      • මතෙ (Sinhalese script)
      • မတေ (Burmese script)
      • มเต or มะเต (Thai script)
      • ᨾᨲᩮ (Tai Tham script)
      • ມເຕ or ມະເຕ (Lao script)
      • មតេ (Khmer script)
      • 𑄟𑄖𑄬 (Chakma script)

      Adjective

      mate

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

      Noun

      mate

      1. locative singular of mata (“opinion”)

      Polish

      Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
      Wikipedia pl

      Etymology

      Borrowed from Spanish mate, from Quechua mati.

      Pronunciation

      Noun

      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

      Further reading

      • mate in Polish dictionaries at PWN

      Portuguese

      Pronunciation

       

      Etymology 1

        Borrowed from Spanish mate, borrowed from Quechua mati.

        Noun

        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
        Descendants

        Etymology 2

        See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

        Verb

        mate

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

        Rapa Nui

        Etymology

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

        Adjective

        mate

        1. dead (no longer alive)

        Verb

        mate

        1. to die

        Romanian

        Etymology

        Clipping of matematică.

        Noun

        mate f (uncountable)

        1. (colloquial) maths

        Shona

        Etymology

        From Proto-Bantu *màtáì.

        Noun

        maté class 6

        1. saliva (liquid secreted into the mouth)

        Spanish

        Pronunciation

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

        Etymology 1

        Borrowed from French mat, mate.

        Adjective

        mate m or f (masculine and feminine plural mates)

        1. matte (not reflective of light)

        Etymology 2

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

        Noun

        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
        Derived terms

        Etymology 3

          Borrowed from Quechua mati.

          Noun

          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
          Derived terms
          Descendants

          Etymology 4

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

          Adjective

          mate m or f (masculine and feminine plural mates)

          1. (South America) tan, tanned (skin colour)
            Synonyms: bronceado, tostado

          Etymology 5

          Clipping of matemática.

          Noun

          mate f (plural mates)

          1. (colloquial) math / maths
            Synonym: mates

          Etymology 6

          Deverbal from matar (“kill”).

          Noun

          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

          Verb

          mate

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

          Further reading

          Swahili

          Etymology

          Inherited from Proto-Bantu *màtáì.

          Pronunciation

          Noun

          mate class VI (plural only)

          1. saliva

          Swedish

          Alternative forms

          Etymology

          Borrowed from Spanish mate, from Quechua mati.

          Noun

          mate n

          1. maté (beverage)
            Synonym: paraguayte
            • 1900, Jane Gernandt-Claine, Pampan‎, 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.

          Declension

          More information nominative, genitive ...

          Derived terms

          References

          Tagalog

          Etymology

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

          Pronunciation

          Noun

          mate (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜆᜒ) (chess)

          1. checkmate

          See also

          Further reading

          Tahitian

          Etymology

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

          Adjective

          mate

          1. dead (no longer alive)

          Verb

          mate

          1. to die

          Tetum

          Etymology

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

          Adjective

          mate

          1. dead (no longer alive)

          Noun

          mate

          1. death

          Verb

          mate

          1. to die

          Further reading

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

          Tokelauan

          Pronunciation

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

          Etymology 1

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

          Verb

          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
          Usage notes
          • 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.

          Etymology 2

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

          Noun

          mate

          1. guess

          Verb

          mate

          1. (transitive) to guess
          Derived terms

          Etymology 3

          Noun

          mate

          1. (to a male) sororal nephew

          References

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

          Tongan

          Etymology

          From Proto-Polynesian *mate.

          Pronunciation

          Noun

          mate

          1. death
          2. the dead

          Adjective

          mate

          1. dead

          Uneapa

          Etymology

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

          Pronunciation

          Verb

          mate

          1. to die

          Further reading

          • 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)

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