English has three words spelled mate: a companion, from Middle Low German; the checkmate in chess, from Old French mat; and the South American tea, also spelled maté, from Spanish and Quechua.[1][2][3]
Pronunciation
- IPA: /meɪt/[4]
mate1 companion
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Borrowing
- First attested
- c. 1350
- Borrowed from
- Middle Low German māte via Middle English
- Ultimate origin
- Proto-Germanic (*gamatjô)
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle English mate,[3] borrowed from Middle Low German māte (“one eating at the same table, messmate”), gemate,[5][1][3] from Proto-Germanic *ga-matjōn (“(one) having food together”),[5][1] from *ga- “together” and *matiz “food”, the source of meat.[5][1][6] It is built on the same notion as companion.[5] It is cognate with German Maat and Dutch maat “partner, colleague”.[5]
Earliest recorded meaning
A fellow, associate or comrade: probably about 1350 in Barnhart,[1] the mid-14th century in Etymonline,[5] about 1380 in the OED.[7]
Semantic evolution
A habitual companion or friend is from the late 14th century.[5][1] As a form of address by sailors and labourers it has been used since the mid-15th century,[5][7] and the officer on a merchant ship who sees the master's orders carried out is from the late 15th century.[5][2] One of a married pair is from the 1540s (1549 in the OED),[5][7] one of a pair of animals or birds from 1593,[7] and the fellow of a pair of things from 1578.[7] The verb meant “to equal, rival” about 1500,[5][1] “to join in marriage” in the 1590s,[5][1] and “to pair for breeding” about 1600.[5][7]
Timeline
- c. 1350 – a fellow.[1]
- c. 1450 – a form of address.[7]
- late 15th century – a ship's officer.[5]
- 1509 – verb, to equal.[1]
- 1549 – a husband or wife.[7]
- 1589 – verb, to marry.[1]
- 1593 – one of a pair of animals.[7]
- c. 1600 – verb, to pair for breeding.[5]
Modern meaning
Noun
- (chiefly British, Australian) A friend or companion; also used as a form of address.
- One of a pair of animals that breed together.
- A husband, wife or partner.
- One of a matched pair: the mate to this sock.
- An officer on a merchant ship ranking below the captain.
- An assistant to a skilled worker: a plumber's mate.
Verb
- Of animals, to come together to breed, or to bring them together.
- To join closely or pair.
Word family
- mateship
- matey
- shipmate
- classmate
- roommate
- soulmate
- messmate
mate2 checkmate
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Borrowing
- First attested
- a. 1225
- Borrowed from
- Old French mater via Middle English
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle English maten,[1][3] borrowed from Old French mater (“to checkmate, defeat”),[5][1] from mat “checkmated”, as in eschec mat,[5][1][2] from Arabic māt, in shāh māt, the phrase used in chess,[3] the source of checkmate.[5][1]
Earliest recorded meaning
To overcome or defeat: probably about 1200 in Barnhart, in the Ancrene Riwle,[1] before 1225 in the OED.[7] To checkmate in chess: probably before 1300 in Barnhart,[1] about 1300 in Etymonline.[5]
Semantic evolution
The adjective mate, overcome, exhausted or dejected, was used in Middle English but is obsolete.[7] The noun, the state of the king in check that cannot escape, is from about 1330,[7] and fool's mate, the quickest possible checkmate, from 1529.[7] To daunt or render helpless by terror or shame was a sense from about 1416, now obsolete.[7]
Timeline
- a. 1225 – to overcome.[7]
- a. 1300 – to checkmate.[1]
- c. 1330 – noun, checkmate.[7]
- 1529 – fool's mate.[7]
Modern meaning
Noun
- (chess) Checkmate.
Verb
- (chess) To checkmate.
mate3 tea
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Borrowing
- First attested
- 1717
- Borrowed from
- Spanish mate
- Ultimate origin
- Quechua (mati)
Etymology
It is borrowed from Spanish mate,[1][2] from Quechua mati “calabash, gourd”.[1][2] The spelling maté (1826) came through French.[1]
Earliest recorded meaning
The gourd or calabash in which the drink is made: 1717 in the OED, implied in Barnhart.[7][1] The tea itself: 1758.[1]
Semantic evolution
The name passed from the vessel to the infusion and the shrub,[2] whose prepared leaves are called mate from 1768.[7]
Timeline
Modern meaning
Noun
- A tea-like drink made from the dried leaves of a South American holly, or the shrub itself.
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
Derived terms
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Mate.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/mate. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.
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