mate

English Online Dictionary. What means mate‎? What does mate mean?

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /meɪt/
  • (US, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): [meɪt]
  • (Standard Southern British) IPA^(key): [mɛjt]
  • (Canada, Scotland) IPA^(key): [meːt]
  • (General Australian) IPA^(key): [mæɪt]
• Rhymes: -eɪt

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.

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
2. (especially of a non-human animal) A breeding partner.
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

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

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.

10. A suitable companion; a match; an equal.

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.

Derived terms

Translations

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

2. (intransitive) To copulate.

   Synonyms: couple; see also Thesaurus:copulate

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

    Antonym: demate

Derived terms

• mating

Translations

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

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

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

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:mate.

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmatɛ]

Verb

mate

1. third-person singular present of mást

Dutch

Pronunciation 1

• 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

   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)

1. Alternative spelling of maté

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

• IPA^(key): /mat/

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

• méat

Galician

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

• mate do louco
• mate do pastor

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

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

• pate

Etymology 2

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

Alternative forms

• matè (influenced from French maté)

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

• Meta, meta, meta-, metà, team, tema

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.

Noun

mate

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

Derived terms

Verb

mate

1. (stative) to be dead, deceased, killed
2. (stative) to be sick, ill, unwell, diseased
3. (stative) to be defeated, conquered, beaten, overcome
4. (stative) 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

• matetun

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

• mat, mayte

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaːt(ə)/

Noun

mate (plural mates)

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

Descendants

• English: mate
• Scots: mate

References

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

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

• fôre (about animals)

Related terms

• mat (noun)

References

• “mate” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Pali

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish mate, from Quechua mati.

Pronunciation

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

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

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

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish mate, from Quechua mati.

Noun

mate m (uncountable)

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

   Synonyms: erva mate, erva

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

   Synonym: chimarrão

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, Rioplatense, Chile, Paraguay) head (top part of the body)

   Synonym: cabeza

Derived terms

Descendants

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

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)

Etymology 5

Clipping of matemática.

Noun

mate f (plural mates)

1. (colloquial) math / maths

   Synonym: mates

Etymology 6

Deverbal of 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

• “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], 2024 December 10
• “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

Swahili

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *màtáì.

Pronunciation

Noun

mate class VI (plural only)

1. saliva (liquid secreted into the mouth)

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

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

Noun

mate (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜆᜒ) (chess)

1. checkmate

See also

Further reading

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

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^[2], Auckland: Office of Tokelau Affairs, page 229

Tongan

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *mate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma.te/

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

• IPA^(key): /mate/

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)