classmate
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
And though the suit doesn’t name the classmate, her name has now leaked via court documents, furthering an already pronounced imbalance of power.
From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2026
Eva's classmate Jem said he thinks the girls were treated differently to the boys.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
They usually don’t teach a class on what to do when a classmate can’t get a word out, or teach the teacher to wait.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
According to the former classmate, she and Griffin were classmates and belonged to the same church youth group in the late 1980s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
In 1955, Moore was surprised to learn that his former timid classmate from BU was leading a bus boycott in Montgomery.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
She was a stickler for analysis, whose intensive assignments were the bane of many classmates.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
“Our hearts are with Kaylee’s family, friends, classmates and everyone who knew and loved her during this incredibly difficult time.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
The gap between how well pupils from better-off backgrounds perform at school compared with their classmates from lower-income households has widened, according to a new report.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
In high school, while their classmates were attending prom and cheering at football games, Olaf Hichwa and Soren Monroe-Anderson were building drones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
He was styling and beaming with pride until he got spotted by some of our classmates.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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.
