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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  

[mayt] / 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  

[mayt] / meɪt /

noun

mated, mating

1. checkmate.

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mate ³ American  

[mah-tay, mat-ay] / 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

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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

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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

Gov. Andrew Cuomo plucked her from political obscurity to be his running mate in 2014.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026

Jackie amassed millions of devoted fans thanks to a nonstop livestream of the aerie overlooking Big Bear Lake she shared with mate Shadow.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

The former president "needs to be free to embrace the people," Alfredo Gaspar, Flavio Bolsonaro's running mate, told AFP.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

Earlier that morning, Axios co-founder Jim VandeHei published a flattering bulletin placing Schmitt atop the speculative short list to be Vice President JD Vance’s 2028 running mate, quoting admirers of the senator.

From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2026

Ever since the hug, she and Kat had been steadily building a friendship, and, while she wouldn’t yet say that Rio considered her a mate, there were times when he was at least friendly.

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

Grab sushi and a maté There’s a Bristol Farms near me in West Hollywood.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2024

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

From New York Times ● Sep. 11, 2023

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

When wild females mated with them, they produced no viable offspring, gradually driving the population toward collapse.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

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

“Gurrrrr grrrr,” it goes, with a description just next to it: Contentment; if a kitten and an apple pie mated, this is what it would sound and smell like.

From "Better Nate Than Ever" by Tim Federle

Bird calls are one of the most sophisticated forms of sound-based communication in the natural world, and significant changes can interfere with, among other things, their mating success.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

It was mating season for the sperm whales.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

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

For four-day periods every year from March to August, legions of small, silver fish called grunion ride the waves ashore for mating rituals, beginning on the nights of the full and new moons.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

What animals do means life and death for us: how they behave, what tracks they leave, their times for mating and giving birth, their times for wandering.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

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