What does "mate" mean?
A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate.
Mate
/meɪt/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate.
- Grammar: mate is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: checkmate, partner, spouse, accompanier.
- Useful contrasts: unmated, detach, disjoin.
- Usage evidence: Where is the mate to this sock?
How to use "mate"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "mate" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "mate" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "mate" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "mate" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "mate" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "checkmate" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "mate", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate.
"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 Clipping of checkmate. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping
- 3 Alternative spelling of maté, an aromatic tea-like drink prepared from the holly yerba maté (Ilex paraguariensis). alt-of, alternative
- 4 a chess move constituting an inescapable and indefensible attack on the opponent's king wordnet
- 5 A breeding partner. especially
"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."
Show 18 more definitions
- 6 The abovementioned plant; the leaves and shoots used for the tea
- 7 an exact duplicate wordnet
- 8 A friend, usually of the same sex. Australia, British, Ireland, New-Zealand, South-Africa, colloquial
"I'm going to the pub with a few mates."
- 9 South American tea-like drink made from leaves of a South American holly called mate wordnet
- 10 Friendly term of address to a stranger, usually male, of similar age. Australia, British, Ireland, New-Zealand, South-Africa, colloquial
"Excuse me, mate, have you got the time?"
- 11 the officer below the master on a commercial ship wordnet
- 12 In naval ranks, a non-commissioned officer or his subordinate (e.g. Boatswain's Mate, Gunner's Mate, Sailmaker's Mate, etc).
- 13 informal term for a friend of the same sex wordnet
- 14 A ship's officer, subordinate to the master on a commercial ship.
- 15 the partner of an animal (especially a sexual partner) wordnet
- 16 A first mate.
- 17 a person's partner in marriage wordnet
- 18 A technical assistant in certain trades (e.g. gasfitter's mate, plumber's mate); sometimes an apprentice.
- 19 a fellow member of a team wordnet
- 20 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."
- 21 South American holly; leaves used in making a drink like tea wordnet
- 22 A suitable companion; a match; an equal.
"Ye knew me once no mate / For you; there sitting where you durst not soar."
- 23 one of a pair wordnet
Verb
- 1 To match, fit together without space between. intransitive
"The pieces of the puzzle mate perfectly."
- 2 Clipping of checkmate. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping
- 3 To confuse; to confound. obsolete
"I think you are all mated, or stark mad."
- 4 place an opponent's king under an attack from which it cannot escape and thus ending the game wordnet
- 5 To copulate. intransitive
"“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.”"
Show 11 more definitions
- 6 bring two objects, ideas, or people together wordnet
- 7 To pair in order to raise offspring. intransitive
- 8 engage in sexual intercourse wordnet
- 9 To arrange in matched pairs. transitive
- 10 To introduce (animals) together for the purpose of breeding. transitive
- 11 To copulate with. transitive
- 12 To marry; to match (a person). transitive
"If she be mated with an equal husband."
- 13 To match oneself against; to oppose as equal; to compete with. obsolete, transitive
"There is no passion in the mind of man so weak but it mates and masters the fear of death."
- 14 To fit (objects) together without space between. transitive
- 15 To come together as companions, comrades, partners, etc. intransitive
"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."
- 16 To move (a space shuttle orbiter) onto the back of an aircraft that can carry it. transitive
Proper Noun
- 1 A barangay of Tayabas, Quezon, Philippines.
Example
"Where is the mate to this sock?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "mate"?
Common synonyms include: checkmate, partner, spouse, accompanier, accompanist, accompanyist.
How do you use "mate" in a sentence?
Where is the mate to this sock?
How do you pronounce "mate"?
Pronounced /meɪt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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)).
Etymology 2
From Middle English verb maten, from Middle French mater, from Old French noun mat (“checkmate”), from Persian شاه مات (šâh mât).
Etymology 3
From Middle English maten (“to overpower”), from Old French mater (“to kill”), from Vulgar Latin *mattō, of unclear origin.
Etymology 4
See maté.