mate

See also maté, matė, máte, mäte, måte, māte, mātē, and Máté

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /meɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪt

Etymology 1

From Middle English, from Middle Low German mate (“messmate”) (replacing Middle English mette from Old English ġemetta (“sharer of food, table-guest”)), derived from Proto-Germanic *gamatjô, itself from Proto-Germanic *ga- (“together”) (related to German and Dutch ge-) + Proto-Germanic *matjô (from Proto-Germanic *matiz (“food”)), related to Old English mete (“food”)). More at co-, meat.

Noun

mate (plural mates)

1. (especially of a breeding animal) A sexual partner.
2. 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.

3. (nautical) A ship's officer, subordinate to the master on a commercial ship.
4. (nautical) In naval ranks, a non-commissioned officer or his subordinate (e.g. Boatswain's Mate, Gunner's Mate, Sailmaker's Mate, etc).
5. (nautical) Short for first mate.
6. A technical assistant in certain trades (e.g. gasfitter's mate, plumber's mate); sometimes an apprentice.
7. (colloquial, UK, Australian, New Zealand) A friend, colleague etc.; an informal and friendly term of address to a stranger, usually of the same sex. Often used in direct address to any male.
8. (colloquial, UK, Australian, New Zealand, in combination) a fellow, associate, colleague, or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. classmate, shipmate.

Synonyms

• match
• partner
• See also Wikisaurus:friend

Derived terms

• bedmate
• bunkmate
• cellmate
• classmate
• crewmate
• floormate
• housemate
• mateship
• office mate
• roommate
• shipmate
• teammate
• tourmate
• workmate

Translations

of breeding animal: sexual partner

Dutch: gezel (nl) m., partner (nl) m. and f., paringsgezel (nl) m.

Greek: σύντροφος (el) m.

other member of a pair

Finnish: pari (fi)

Turkish: çift (tr)

nautical: ship's officer on commercial vessel

Dutch: maat (nl) m., scheepsmaat (nl) m. Finnish: perämies (fi)

Greek: αξιωματικός (el) m.

nautical: NCO or his subordinate in naval ranks

Finnish: matruusi (fi)

nautical: first mate — see first mate

trade assistant

Dutch: gast (nl) m., maat (nl) m. Finnish: apumies (fi)

Greek: συνέταιρος (el) m., συνεργάτης (el) m., συνάδελφος (el) m.

friend

Dutch: maat(je) m. and n., kameraad (nl) m., makker (nl) m., gabber (nl) m. Finnish: kaveri (fi) French: copain (fr) m., camarade (fr) m.

Greek: φίλος (el) m. Japanese: 友達 (ja) (tomodachi) Maori: (direct address) e hoa (mi)

fellow, associate, colleague (in combination)

Finnish: toveri (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

French: copain m., pote m. German: Mate m., Matt (5), Kumpel m.

Japanese: 相方 (ja) (aikata) (2), 片割れ (ja) (kataware) (2),王手 (ja) (oute) (5) Telugu: జత, జతగాడు, జత గత్తె, సహచరుడు, సహాధ్యాయి

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.

   The pieces of the puzzle mate perfectly.

2. (intransitive) To 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) To fit (objects) together without space between.

Synonyms

• couple
• match
• pair

Derived terms

• mating

Translations

copulate

Dutch: paren (nl)

pair in order to raise offspring

Dutch: paren (nl)

arrange in matched pairs

Dutch: koppelen (nl), paren (nl)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

French: s'assembler

Korean: 맞다 (majda, mat-), (causative) 맞추다 (majchuda, mat-) (for fitting); 짝짓다 (jjagjisda, jjakjitda) (for breeding)

Etymology 2

From Middle English verb maten, Middle French mater, from Old French noun mat (“checkmate”), from Arabic (māt)

Noun

mate (plural mates)

1. (chess) Short for checkmate.

Translations

checkmate — see checkmate

Verb

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

1. (intransitive) To win a game of chess by putting the opponent in checkmate

Translations

put an opponent in checkmate

Dutch: schaakmat spelen

Etymology 3

Noun

mate (plural mates)

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

Anagrams

• meat
• meta, Meta
• tame
• team

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Dutch

Etymology

A more archaic form of maat (“measure”), in petrified use in various contexts and expressions. From Middle Dutch mate, from Old Dutch *māta, from Proto-Germanic *mētō.

Noun

mate ? (plural mates, diminutive maatje)

1. A measure, degree: quantity or intensity of something abstract

See also

• maat

Verb

mate

1. singular past subjunctive of meten.

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Fijian

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic (compare Hawaiian make, Indonesian mati, Maori mate).

Noun

mate

1. death

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA: /mat/, SAMPA: /mat/

Adjective

mate

1. feminine of mat, dull.

Verb

mate

1. form of mater

Anagrams

• méat

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Galician

Verb

mate

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

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Gothic

Romanization

matē

1. Romanization of 𐌼𐌰𐍄𐌴

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Maori

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic (compare Hawaiian make, Indonesian mati, Fijian mate).

Adjective

mate

1. dead

Noun

mate

1. death

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Mapudungun

Noun

mate (using Raguileo Alphabet)

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.

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Norwegian

Verb

mate (present tense mater; past tense mata/matet; past participle mata/matet; present participle matende; imperative mat)

1. To feed

Synonyms

• fôre (about animals)

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Rapa Nui

Etymology

See here.

Verb

mate

1. die

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Spanish

Adjective

mate m. and f. (plural mates)

1. matte (not reflective of light)
2. (South America) tan, tanned (skin colour)

Noun

mate m. (plural mates)

1. (chess) mate, checkmate
2. The drink maté prepared of yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis).
3. A hollow calabash gourd, in which the maté is traditionally served.
4. (colloquial, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay) A head.
5. (colloquial) maths, mathematics (short for "matemática")

Synonyms

• jaque mate (checkmate).

Wikipedia

Verb

mate (infinitive matar)

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of matar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of matar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of matar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of matar.

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Swahili

Noun

mate

1. saliva (liquid secreted into the mouth)

This Swahili entry was created from the translations listed at saliva. It may be less reliable than other entries, and may be missing parts of speech or additional senses. Please also see mate in the Swahili Wiktionary. This notice will be removed when the entry is checked. (more information) July 2009

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Tahitian

Verb

mate

1. die