mate

English

/meɪt/, /meiʔ/

noun
Definitions
  • A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate.
  • (especially of a non-human animal) A breeding partner.
  • (colloquial) A friend, usually of the same sex.
  • (colloquial) friendly term of address to a stranger, usually male, of similar age
  • (nautical) In naval ranks, a non-commissioned officer or his subordinate (e.g. , , Sailmaker's Mate, etc).
  • (nautical) A ship's officer, subordinate to the master on a commercial ship.
  • (nautical) A first mate.
  • A technical assistant in certain trades (e.g. gasfitter's mate, plumber's mate); sometimes an apprentice.
  • The other member of a matched pair of objects.
  • A suitable companion; a match; an equal.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English mate derived from Middle Low German mate (messmate) derived from Proto-Germanic *gamatjô root from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- (wet, meet, fat, come, drip, encounter, ooze, grease, well-fed, glossy, dripping, approach, be wet).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*meh₂d-

Gloss

wet, meet, fat, come, drip, encounter, ooze, grease, well-fed, glossy, dripping, approach, be wet

Concept
Semantic Field

Sense perception

Ontological Category

Property

Kanji

来

Emoji
☂️ ☔️ 🌊 🌦️ 🌧️ 🌨️ 🌩️ 💧

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms