matelot

American  

[mat-loh, mat-l-oh] / ˈmæt loʊ, ˈmæt lˌoʊ /

Or matelow

noun

British Slang.

1. a sailor.

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matelot British  

/ ˈmætləʊ /

noun

1. slang a sailor

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Etymology

Origin of matelot

1910–15; < French ≪ Middle Dutch mattenoot sailor, equivalent to matte mat ¹ + noot companion ( Dutch genoot )

Example Sentences

They were the only places you’d get French imported stuff from – the hipster trousers and matelot shirts – which we liked.

From The Guardian • May 17, 2015

No excuse was allowed; and if illness prevented the man elected taking the office, his matelot, or companion, took his place.

From The Monarchs of the Main, Volume I (of 3) Or, Adventures of the Buccaneers by Thornbury, Walter

Everywhere Professors in straw hats and Heads of Colleges en matelot.

From The Casual Ward academic and other oddments by Godley, A. D. (Alfred Denis)

Also, no man has more than one matelot.

From Caribbee by Hoover, Thomas

He had been a matelot, he said,—made a long voyage, and once touched at an English port.

From Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia with Notices of their History, Antiquities, and Present Condition. by Forester, Thomas