mate
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: aerospace
business
engineering
natural-sciences
nautical
physical-sciences
transport
Etymology: 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)).
Inflected forms:
form: mates
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: mates
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: mating
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: mated
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: mated
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate.
pos: noun
examples: 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.
gloss: A breeding partner.
pos: noun
tags: especially
examples: 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.
gloss: A friend, usually of the same sex.
pos: noun
tags: Australia
Ireland
New-Zealand
South-Africa
UK
colloquial
examples: I'm going to the pub with a few mates.
He's my best mate.
gloss: Friendly term of address to a stranger, usually male, of similar age.
pos: noun
tags: Australia
Ireland
New-Zealand
South-Africa
UK
colloquial
examples: Excuse me, mate, have you got the time?
gloss: In naval ranks, a non-commissioned officer or his subordinate (e.g. Boatswain's Mate, Gunner's Mate, Sailmaker's Mate, etc).
pos: noun
gloss: A ship's officer, subordinate to the master on a commercial ship.
pos: noun
gloss: A first mate.
pos: noun
gloss: A technical assistant in certain trades (e.g. gasfitter's mate, plumber's mate); sometimes an apprentice.
pos: noun
gloss: The other member of a matched pair of objects.
pos: noun
examples: I found one of the socks I wanted to wear, but I couldn't find its mate.
gloss: A suitable companion; a match; an equal.
pos: noun
examples: Ye knew me once no mate / For you; there sitting where you durst not soar.
gloss: To match, fit together without space between.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: The pieces of the puzzle mate perfectly.
gloss: To copulate.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: “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.”
gloss: To pair in order to raise offspring.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
gloss: To arrange in matched pairs.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To introduce (animals) together for the purpose of breeding.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To copulate with.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To marry; to match (a person).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: If she be mated with an equal husband.
gloss: To match oneself against; to oppose as equal; to compete with.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
transitive
examples: There is no passion in the mind of man so weak but it mates and masters the fear of death.
I, […] in the way of loyalty and truth, […] / Dare mate a sounder man than Surrey can be.
gloss: To fit (objects) together without space between.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To come together as companions, comrades, partners, etc.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: 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.
gloss: To move (a space shuttle orbiter) onto the back of an aircraft that can carry it.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
Derived words: amate
Billy no mates
breakfast-mate
checkmate
farm-mate
inmate
intermate
Johnny no mates
mateable
matehood
mateless
mateship
matess
matey
Nigel no mates
nonmate
Norman no mates
outmate
plane-mate
remate
train-mate
undermate
unmate
mating
Translations:
lang: Dutch
word: gezel
lang: Dutch
word: partner
lang: Dutch
word: paringsgezel
lang: Finnish
word: pari
lang: Finnish
word: kumppani
lang: Greek
word: σύντροφος
roman: sýntrofos
lang: Greek
word: ταίρι
roman: taíri
lang: Hindi
word: साथी
roman: sāthī
lang: Hindi
word: सहवासी
roman: sahvāsī
lang: Hungarian
word: pár
lang: Icelandic
word: maka
lang: Irish
word: céile
lang: Irish
word: leathéan
lang: Italian
word: copulatore
lang: Italian
word: riproduttore
lang: Japanese
word: 相手
roman: aite
lang: Malay
word: pasangan
lang: Malayalam
word: ഇണ
roman: iṇa
lang: Middle English
word: make
lang: Old English
word: ġemaca
lang: Portuguese
word: parceiro
lang: Portuguese
word: parceira
lang: Portuguese
word: parceiros
lang: Portuguese
word: parceiras
lang: Russian
word: па́ра
roman: pára
lang: Russian
word: саме́ц
roman: saméc
lang: Russian
word: са́мка
roman: sámka
lang: Spanish
word: pareja
lang: Zazaki
word: çıt