mate
A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate.
Noun 3 meanings
A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate.
A breeding partner.
Friendly term of address to a stranger, usually male, of similar age.
“Excuse me, mate, have you got the time?”
Verb 4 meanings
To match, fit together without space between.
“The pieces of the puzzle mate perfectly.”
To copulate.
To pair in order to raise offspring.
To arrange in matched pairs.
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”)).
Similar and opposite words
MATE at a glance
MATE has 4 letters and scores 6 points in Scrabble (M 3 + A 1 + T 1 + E 1) and 7 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #2,684 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with mate
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