mate

CEFRB1

/meɪt/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A friend, partner, or person you share something with.

  2. 02

    verb

    To join two animals so they can produce young.

Examples

  • If you mate a horse with an ass you will get a mule.

  • Where is the mate to this sock?

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • [mæɪt]
  • [mɛjt]

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A breeding partner.

  2. A friend, usually of the same sex.

  3. A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate.

More examples

In context

  • Do foxes ever mate with dogs?

  • Excuse me, mate, have you got the time?

  • I'm going to the pub with a few mates.

Synonyms

Antonyms

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Nearby

Origin

noun

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-,...