mate
noun
a partner in marriage; spouse.
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mate
1 American
[meyt]
/ meɪt /
noun
-
a partner in marriage; spouse.
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one member of a pair of mated animals.
-
one of a pair.
I can't find the mate to this glove.
-
a counterpart.
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an associate; fellow worker; comrade; partner (often used in combination).
classmate; roommate.
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friend; buddy; pal (often used as an informal term of address).
Let me give you a hand with that, mate.
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Nautical.
-
any of a number of officers of varying degrees of rank subordinate to the master of a merchant ship.
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an assistant to a warrant officer or other functionary on a ship.
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an aide or helper, as to an artisan; factotum.
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a gear, rack, or worm engaging with another gear or worm.
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Archaic. an equal in reputation; peer; match.
verb (used with object)
mated,
mating
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to join as a mate or as mates.
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to bring (animals) together for breeding purposes.
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to match or marry.
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to join, fit, or associate suitably.
to mate thought with daring action.
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to connect or link.
a telephone system mated to a computerized information service.
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to treat as comparable.
verb (used without object)
mated,
mating
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to associate as a mate or as mates.
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(of animals) to copulate.
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(of animals) to pair for the purpose of breeding.
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to marry.
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(of a gear, rack, or worm) to engage with another gear or worm; mesh.
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Archaic. to consort; keep company.
mate
2
American
[meyt]
/ meɪt /
noun
mated,
mating
mate
3
American
[mah-tey, mat-ey]
/ ˈmɑ teɪ, ˈmæt eɪ /
noun
-
a tealike South American beverage made from the dried leaves of an evergreen tree.
-
a South American tree, Ilex paraguariensis, that is the source of this beverage.
-
the dried leaves of this tree.
mate
1
British
/ meɪt /
noun
-
the sexual partner of an animal
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a marriage partner
-
-
informal a friend, usually of the same sex: often used between males in direct address
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(in combination) an associate, colleague, fellow sharer, etc
a classmate
a flatmate
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one of a pair of matching items
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nautical
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short for first mate
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any officer below the master on a commercial ship
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a warrant officer's assistant on a ship
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(in some trades) an assistant
a plumber's mate
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archaic a suitable associate
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slang the reduced rate charged for work done for a friend
verb
-
to pair (a male and female animal) or (of animals) to pair for reproduction
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to marry or join in marriage
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(tr) to join as a pair; match
maté
2
British
/ ˈmæteɪ, ˈmɑːteɪ /
noun
-
an evergreen tree, Ilex paraguariensis, cultivated in South America for its leaves, which contain caffeine: family Aquifoliaceae
-
a stimulating milky beverage made from the dried leaves of this tree
mate
3
British
/ meɪt /
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of mate1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English mate, maite “friend, companion, shipmate, mate (ship's officer), fellow creature,” from Middle Low German mate, gemate “messmate”, replacing Middle English mette, mete “table companion, messmate, partner,” Old English gemetta “messmate, guest”; see origin at meat
Origin of mate2
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English verb maten, matein, matten “to checkmate, defeat,” from Old French mater, ultimately from Persian; see origin at checkmate
Origin of mate3
First recorded in 1710–20; from American Spanish, from Quechua mati, the calabash gourd in which the herb is steeped
Explanation
Someone's mate is their spouse, partner, boyfriend, or girlfriend. Your grandmother's long-term sweetheart is her mate. Awwww. A husband or wife is one kind of mate, and animals have mates too, chosen for reproduction and sometimes to assist in raising babies. Anything that comes in a pair — like socks, contacts, shoes, or earrings — also has a mate. Your pal or buddy can be called a mate as well. As a verb, to mate means "to breed" or "to reproduce." In Middle Low German, mate means "one eating at the same table."
Vocabulary lists containing mate
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:
Through the 24/7 streams, Jackie and her longtime mate Shadow are watched by thousands of devoted fans across the globe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
The charity's reserve's officer Paul Waterhouse explained the new pair, Blue 717 and her mate Blue 476, had only fledged one chick last year, which was normal among less-experienced ospreys.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
A White House official said Denton’s private comments about Vance becoming Trump’s running mate weren’t based on insider knowledge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
The invasive females attract native male mantises, which attempt to mate but are ultimately eaten, reducing local populations.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026
Rachael said, “Our present crash program and overall planning call for us to obtain an additional owl which can mate with Scrappy.”
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
Santaolalla is not unaware that his compatriot isn’t everyone’s cup of maté.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2021
No wonder Sanchez said she drank the highly caffeinated South American drink maté on the shoot every day — a fitting beverage for a show in which each episode feels like a shot of espresso.
From New York Times ● Mar. 19, 2021
You’ll canter with the cowboys across vast grasslands, and trade stories over maté.
From Time ● Sep. 25, 2017
There are meals of carne asada and manioc soup; parleys over endless rounds of yerba maté; social scandals that erupt at horse races; deadly tropical fevers; and red dust, relentless sun, and clouds of mosquitoes.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 15, 2017
Ah! here comes Pedro with steaming bowls of maté.
From Wild Life in the Land of the Giants A Tale of Two Brothers by Stables, Gordon
Millions of sterile male Mexican fruit flies will be released over parts of San Diego County, after one mated female fruit fly was detected around Spring Valley, according to food and agriculture regulators.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
Behind the crosshatched front grille lives a well-tempered, turbocharged 3.5-liter V6, mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission and permanent all-wheel drive, including a digitally controlled limited-slip differential.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
However, “beyond that there are vague fears that the AI providers would either be directly competitive or be mated with other solutions to imitate Palantir.”
From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026
For most species once they've mated and their fledglings have left they sing less and focus on surviving the cold months.
From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2025
He then attached teams of horses to the sphere, which consisted simply of two hemispheres mated together, but they were unable to draw them apart.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Sally Wadsworth, chair of Benfield Wildlife and Conservation Group, says some areas of grass are kept longer so that the females can crawl up the stalks for mating.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
They don't bite humans, and the bacteria they carry prevents any eggs produced after mating from hatching.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Weber also noted that mating season is coming to an end, when alligators become very territorial.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
Researchers observed that T. sesama appears to spend its life focused on just four main activities: feeding, searching, mating, and laying eggs.
From Science Daily ● May 27, 2026
We tended to the sangsues as children, mating them, learning how helpful their species is to Belles, discovering how they help keep our blood clean.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
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.
