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• mate
  mate

  noun

  a partner in marriage; spouse.
• maté
  maté

  noun

  an evergreen tree, Ilex paraguariensis, cultivated in South America for its leaves, which contain caffeine: family Aquifoliaceae

mate

¹ American  

[meyt] / meɪt /

noun

1. a partner in marriage; spouse.

2. one member of a pair of mated animals.

3. one of a pair.

   I can't find the mate to this glove.

4. a counterpart.

5. an associate; fellow worker; comrade; partner (often used in combination).

   classmate; roommate.

6. friend; buddy; pal (often used as an informal term of address).

   Let me give you a hand with that, mate.

7. Nautical.

   1. first mate.

   2. any of a number of officers of varying degrees of rank subordinate to the master of a merchant ship.

   3. an assistant to a warrant officer or other functionary on a ship.

8. an aide or helper, as to an artisan; factotum.

9. a gear, rack, or worm engaging with another gear or worm.

10. Archaic. an equal in reputation; peer; match.

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verb (used with object)

mated, mating

1. to join as a mate or as mates.

2. to bring (animals) together for breeding purposes.

3. to match or marry.

4. to join, fit, or associate suitably.

   to mate thought with daring action.

5. to connect or link.

   a telephone system mated to a computerized information service.

6. to treat as comparable.

verb (used without object)

mated, mating

1. to associate as a mate or as mates.

2. (of animals) to copulate.

3. (of animals) to pair for the purpose of breeding.

4. to marry.

5. (of a gear, rack, or worm) to engage with another gear or worm; mesh.

6. Archaic. to consort; keep company.

mate ² American  

[meyt] / meɪt /

noun

mated, mating

1. checkmate.

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mate ³ American  

[mah-tey, mat-ey] / ˈmɑ teɪ, ˈmæt eɪ /

noun

1. a tealike South American beverage made from the dried leaves of an evergreen tree.

2. a South American tree, Ilex paraguariensis, that is the source of this beverage.

3. the dried leaves of this tree.

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mate ¹ British  

/ meɪt /

noun

1. the sexual partner of an animal

2. a marriage partner

3. 1. informal a friend, usually of the same sex: often used between males in direct address

   2. (in combination) an associate, colleague, fellow sharer, etc

      a classmate

      a flatmate

4. one of a pair of matching items

5. nautical

   1. short for first mate

   2. any officer below the master on a commercial ship

   3. a warrant officer's assistant on a ship

6. (in some trades) an assistant

   a plumber's mate

7. archaic a suitable associate

8. slang the reduced rate charged for work done for a friend

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verb

1. to pair (a male and female animal) or (of animals) to pair for reproduction

2. to marry or join in marriage

3. (tr) to join as a pair; match

maté ² British  

/ ˈmæteɪ, ˈmɑːteɪ /

noun

1. an evergreen tree, Ilex paraguariensis, cultivated in South America for its leaves, which contain caffeine: family Aquifoliaceae

2. a stimulating milky beverage made from the dried leaves of this tree

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mate ³ British  

/ meɪt /

noun

1. chess See checkmate

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Other Word Forms

• mateless
  adjective

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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mate maté mated mating

Many also wondered what would become of Shadow, her mate of eight years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Twycross is home to the UK's only heard of Kordofan giraffes and staff hope a 10-month-old female will become the mother of the next generation, if a suitable mate can be imported.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

“In the snap of fingers, my best friend, my confidant, my partner, my soul mate was transitioned to another dimension — a higher plane,” she wrote in her post.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

He's not up to mischief: these are males that don't bite, and they carry a gut bacteria called Wolbachia, which means when they mate with uninfected females, the eggs won't hatch.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

“One fitted to my purpose, you mean—fitted to my vocation. Again I tell you it is not the insignificant private individual—the mere man, with the man’s selfish senses—I wish to mate: it is the missionary.”

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

Each time she settled in a new place, she spread the word about maté.

From New York Times ● Sep. 11, 2023

Santaolalla is not unaware that his compatriot isn’t everyone’s cup of maté.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 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

Our stores are nearly exhausted—I mean our coffee, tea, maté and sugar.

From Wild Life in the Land of the Giants A Tale of Two Brothers by Gordon Stables

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

Now eight-weeks-old, the household's numerous new arrivals – dubbed Irish Doodles because their mother was mated with a poodle – are believed to be the biggest litter that crossbreed has seen in the UK.

From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026

They first mated in 2018 and had their first eaglet Simba the following year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 24, 2026

He saw it like a featureless moor or bogland, which had become maritime by accident—its heather, still looking like heather, having mated with the seaweed until it was a salt wet heather, with slippery fronds.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

In nature, it’s believed that some beetles are shiny for camouflage, protection and mating purposes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Their pleasant mating call, Mr. de Greef writes, sounds like “a distant ferryboat whistle.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

According to the British Pest Control Association, external, during the warmer months of the year bedbugs, thrive due to being more active, feeding and mating.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

Barfield said her team stays away from the bison during mating season, except for when making observations from the safety of a vehicle.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

Less benevolently, he might monopolise particularly coveted foods and prevent lower-ranking males from mating with the females.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

Related Words

• acquaintance
• bride
• buddy
• classmate
• companion
• comrade
• coworker
• playmate
• roommate
• schoolmate
• spouse