mate

/meɪt/UK[meɪt]

mate noun: a fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate. Also the clipping of checkmate.

Image: seretide, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

mate (plural mates)

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.1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 152
Synonyms:

fellow, fere
(especially) A breeding partner.
- 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.2015 April 16, Richard P. Grant, “Sex and the successful fundraiser”, in The Guardian
(Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, UK, colloquial) A friend, usually of the same sex.
- I'm going to the pub with a few mates.
- He's my best mate.
Synonyms:

friend, buddy, babber, billy, bredrin, bruv, bud, buddo, butty, chaver
(Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, UK, colloquial) Friendly term of address to a stranger, usually male, of similar age.
- Excuse me, mate, have you got the time?
Synonyms:

buddy
In naval ranks, a non-commissioned officer or his subordinate (e.g. Boatswain's Mate, Gunner's Mate, Sailmaker's Mate, etc).
A ship's officer, subordinate to the master on a commercial ship.
A first mate.
A technical assistant in certain trades (e.g. gasfitter's mate, plumber's mate); sometimes an apprentice.
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.
A suitable companion; a match; an equal.
- Ye knew me once no mate / For you; there sitting where you durst not soar.1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...

Verb (1)

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

(intransitive) To match, fit together without space between.
- The pieces of the puzzle mate perfectly.
Synonyms:

match, couple, pair
(intransitive) To copulate.
- “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...1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 172
Synonyms:

couple, approach, cohabit, common, company, copulate, engage in sex, exchange flesh, have intimate relations, have marital relations
(intransitive) To pair in order to raise offspring.
(transitive) To arrange in matched pairs.
(transitive) To introduce (animals) together for the purpose of breeding.
(transitive) To copulate with.
(transitive) To marry; to match (a person).
- If she be mated with an equal husband.1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
(obsolete, transitive) To match oneself against; to oppose as equal; to compete with.
- There is no passion in the mind of man so weak but it mates and masters the fear of death.1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Death”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC
- I, […] in the way of loyalty and truth, […] / Dare mate a sounder man than Surrey can be.1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio)...
(transitive) To fit (objects) together without space between.
(intransitive) To come together as companions, comrades, partners, etc.
- 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.1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 152
(transitive) To move (a space shuttle orbiter) onto the back of an aircraft that can carry it.

Antonyms:

demate

Verb (2)

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

(obsolete) To confuse; to confound.
- I think you are all mated, or stark mad.c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...

Noun (2)

mate (plural mates)

The abovementioned plant; the leaves and shoots used for the tea

Proper noun capitalized: Mate

Mate

A barangay of Tayabas, Quezon, Philippines.

Also used as

mate is also the clipping of checkmate.

mate is also the alternative spelling of maté.

mate meaning in Hindi, Malayalam, Sanskrit and Nepali

mate in Hindi

of breeding animal: sexual partner: साथी sāthī, सहवासी sahvāsī
fellow, associate, colleague (in combination): साथी sāthī
friend — see also friend: मित्र mitra, सखा sakhā, साथी sāthī, बंधु bandhu
intransitive: copulate: सम्भोग sambhog

mate in Malayalam

of breeding animal: sexual partner: ഇണ iṇa

mate in Sanskrit

intransitive: copulate: यभति yabhati

mate in Nepali

intransitive: copulate: चिक्नु ciknu

More languagesFewer languages

mate in Arabic: صَدِيق ṣadīq
mate in Malay: pasangan, awan, awankan
mate in Persian: رفیق rafiq
mate in Myanmar: မိတ် mit

Examples of mate in a sentence

I'm late home for the fourth time this week; my mate will really roast me this time.
The class clown enjoys being roasted by mates as well as staff.
The candidate selection for running mate has catapulted her to the national scene.

All 40 example sentences with mate

Synonyms of mate

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

demate

All synonyms and antonyms of mate

Forms of mate

Noun
plural	mates
Verb
third-person singular present	mates
present participle	mating
past participle	mated
past	mated

Past tense of mate: mated

Plural of mate: mates

Origin of 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)).

From Middle English verb maten, from Middle French mater, from Old French noun mat (“checkmate”), from Persian شاه مات (šâh mât).

From Middle English maten (“to overpower”), from Old French mater (“to kill”), from Vulgar Latin *mattō, of unclear origin.

Phrases with mate

4 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with mate

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about mate

What does mate mean?: Mate means a fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate.
What is mate in Hindi?: Mate in Hindi is साथी (sāthī), सहवासी (sahvāsī), मित्र (mitra). See Mate meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is mate?: Mate can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce mate?: Mate is pronounced /meɪt/.
What is the plural of mate?: The plural of mate is mates.

Words near mate in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: mate (page history and authors); Mate (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-mate.ogg, en-au-mate.ogg.

Cite this entry: “mate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.