classmate

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈklɑːs.meɪt/ (UK); /ˈklæs.meɪt/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound, from English class + mate.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A fellow pupil in the same class at school or college (1713).^[5][2][6]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed close to the first one.^[5][2] In American colleges it came to mean especially a member of the same graduating class.^[5][7] Random House marks the word as an Americanism.^[4]

Timeline

• 1713 – first record, a fellow pupil.^[5][2][6][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A member of the same class at a school, college or university.
2. In North America, a member of the same graduating class.

Related words

• schoolmate
• classroom
• comrade

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)