classmate
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of classmate
Explanation
Your classmate is someone who goes to school with you. It's hard to believe when you first start college that some of your classmates will become your very best friends. Your school friends are your classmates, and so are the fellow students you barely know at all. In a small class, you get to know most of your classmates fairly well, while in a large lecture even your teacher might not know all your classmates' names. The word dates from the 18th century, a combination of class, from the Latin classis, "class or division," and mate, "fellow or comrade."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Rivera was at Espacio 1839 on Friday accompanying his son, Marc Rivera, one of the youngest exhibitors, alongside his classmate Miguel Yanez.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026
Juin allegedly kept insisting that the deal would close imminently, but the classmate eventually asked for his money back.
From MarketWatch • May 29, 2026
My own high-school senior, hearing I was writing about looksmaxxing, started rambling on about a classmate who spent days ranking boys in their school as low-, mid- and high-tier normies based on their facial features.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026
And they learned that Yasser Lopez, a classmate, had been stopped in a car with three friends on the way to a soccer game and taken into custody.
From Slate • Apr. 27, 2026
Many at school wept for their classmate, but Claudette fumed.
From "Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice" by Phillip Hoose
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
