mate
[meɪt]
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.55 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate.
noun
A friend, usually of the same sex.
Australian usage; New Zealand usage; British usage; Colloquial
noun
Friendly term of address to a stranger, usually male, of similar age.
Australian usage; New Zealand usage; British usage; Colloquial
noun
In naval ranks, a non-commissioned officer or his subordinate (e.g. Boatswain's Mate, Gunner's Mate, Sailmaker's Mate, etc).
noun
A ship's officer, subordinate to the master on a commercial ship.
noun
A first mate.
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "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."
- "I'm going to the pub with a few mates."
- "He's my best mate."
- "Excuse me, mate, have you got the time?"
- "I found one of the socks I wanted to wear, but I couldn't find its mate."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Germanic *ga- Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d-der. Proto-Germanic *matiz Proto-Germanic *matjô Proto-West Germanic *gamatjôder. Old Saxon gimatoder. Middle Low German matebor. Middle English mate English mate From Middle English mate, a borrowing from Middle Low German mate (“messmate”) (replacing Middle English mett, mette (“table companion, mate, partner”), from Old English ġemetta (“sharer of food, table-guest”)), from Old Saxon gimato, 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)).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: [meɪt]
- British English: [meɪt]