matelot

/ˈmæt.ləʊ/

matelot noun: a sailor.

Image: Marine nationale /Seurot Franck, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

matelot (plural matelots)

A sailor.
- Nor were they long finding what they sought for; first the grub matter was hunted up, and go where you would, you was sure to meet lots of Matelo’s [matelots—sailors] wending their way to their various quarters, loaded to the bends with what they called Belly Timber.c. 1847, Joseph T. Downey, edited by Howard R. Lamar, The Cruise of Portsmouth 1845-1847, published 1958, page 216
- “‘Hellow,” says Jimmy, “here’s some dunnage as has belonged to some poor matelo’,” and with that he picks out a wad of somethin’ and begins for to open it.1877 August, “The million dollar fish – a sailor’s yarn”, in The Sailor’s Magazine and Seaman’s Friend, page 233
A mate; a boon companion.
- […] "Among the Brethren of the Coast—we tykes no wimmen save in passing, as it were, they being bothersome, frail and scatterbrained creatures. Instead we tykes a blood-brother, or matelot ... A matelot, 'e fights along side o' yer, nurses yer if yer falls sick. Wots 'is is yours and whats yours is...1949, Francis van Wyck Mason, Cutlass Empire, →OCLC

matelot (not comparable)

(attributive) Associated with or typical of sailors.
- In minor key, but just as picturesque, were the uniforms of the port labouring staff—white sweat shirt, black matelot trousers and wide-brimmed straw hat with flat crown.1968, Athol Thomas, Forgotten Eden, page 17
- A small, dark, ferretlike man in a sailor’s dark coat and a French matelot cap with a red pompom was behind her on the stairs.1986, Diana Saunders, The Passion of Letty Fox, page 18

[…] a chief petty officer, snarled something under his breath about bloody 'am-fisted matelots […]1984, John Harris, A Funny Place to Hold a War, London: Hutchinson, →ISBN:
One day, a stalwart sailor was brought in with a severe fracture below the knee […] A week later the leg had turned septic but the matelot was endearing cheerful.2004, Alan O'Reilly, Sound of Battle, Coral Springs, Florida: Llumina Press, →ISBN, page 147:
Our matelot took us out to sea in what I believed was not a very seaworthy boat.2005, William Atlay, All for a King's Shilling, Ely, Cambridgeshire: Melrose Books, →ISBN, page 72:
A bunch of these matelots surrounded a police officer, who said: "You guys are from the USS Cole?2014 June 7, Vicki Woods, “Sadness, and a surprise, at the 9/11 Museum: The memorial at Ground Zero is filled with objects that shock the...

From Middle French matelot (“sailor”). Compare Dutch matroos and German Matrose. Doublet of matross.

What does matelot mean?: Matelot means a sailor.
How do you use matelot in a sentence?: […] a chief petty officer, snarled something under his breath about bloody 'am-fisted matelots […]
What part of speech is matelot?: Matelot can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce matelot?: Matelot is pronounced /ˈmæt.ləʊ/.
What is the plural of matelot?: The plural of matelot is matelots.

Adapted from Wiktionary: matelot (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-matelot.wav.

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