mate

/meɪt/

//meɪt// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"mate" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“mate” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #2,743) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#2,743
frequency rank, English
36,575
“M” headwords
3
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate.

Corpus desk

Index EN-mate · mate · English

mate · rank #2,743 · 3 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,743
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 3 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 36,575
  • PHOTO-FINISH manner

Nearest frequency peer: manner (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “mate”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “mate” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of May 6, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

mate vs ME
0% similar
mate vs MT
0% similar
mate vs may
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for mate
PropertyValue
Headwordmate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/meɪt/
Letters4
Frequency rank#2,743
Misspellings tracked3
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “mate” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). mate lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for mate is neighbouring look-alikes ("ME", "MT", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /meɪt/. Frequency #2,743 among 36,575 “M” headwords. 10 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 3 likely wrong-spelling variants for mate, with forms such as "amte", "mmate", and "mtae". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ME", "MT", "may", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English mate, a borrowing from Middle Low German mate (“messmate”) (replacing Middle English mett, mette (“table companion, mate, partner”), from Old English ġemetta (“sharer of food, table-guest”)), from Old Saxon gimato, derived from Proto-Ger… The correct English form is mate, spelled M-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate.
  2. 2
    A breeding partner.
  3. 3
    A friend, usually of the same sex.
  4. 4
    Friendly term of address to a stranger, usually male, of similar age.
  5. 5
    In naval ranks, a non-commissioned officer or his subordinate (e.g. Boatswain's Mate, Gunner's Mate, Sailmaker's Mate, etc).
  6. 6
    A ship's officer, subordinate to the master on a commercial ship.
  7. 7
    A first mate.
  8. 8
    A technical assistant in certain trades (e.g. gasfitter's mate, plumber's mate); sometimes an apprentice.
  9. 9
    The other member of a matched pair of objects.
  10. 10
    A suitable companion; a match; an equal.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how mate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. A "mate" was a "mate" - share and share alike, no matter how bad might be the times, or how long a spell of ill luck had attended them.
  2. Such overt displays of avowed sexual prowess – or at least, desperate availability – are not limited to the countryside. Even in the city, birds and animals and stockbrokers and nurses find ways of signalling their suitability as a mate.

Etymology

From Middle English mate, a borrowing from Middle Low German mate (“messmate”) (replacing Middle English mett, mette (“table companion, mate, partner”), from Old English ġemetta (“sharer of food, table-guest”)), from Old Saxon gimato, derived from Proto-Germanic *gamatjô, itself from *ga- (“together”) (related to German and Dutch ge-) + *matjô (from *matiz (“food”)), related to Old English mete (“food”)). From the same Middle Low German source stems German Low German Maat (“journeyman, companion”), German Maat (“naval non-commissioned officer”). Cognates include Saterland Frisian Moat (“friend, buddy, comrade, mate”), Dutch maat (“mate, partner, colleague, friend”). More at Old English ġe-, English co-, English meat. Doublet of maat. Compare typologically Latin compāniō (whence companion) (< con- + panis + -ō), Russian однока́шник (odnokášnik) (< одно- (odno-) + ка́ша (káša) + -ник (-nik)).

This word in other languages

pareja(Español)copain(Français)Gegenstück(Deutsch)parceiro(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • amte
  • mmate
  • mtae

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of mate - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

amte2mmate1mtae2
Edit distance from "mate"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "mate"?
"mate" is spelled M-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /meɪt/.
What does "mate" mean?
As a noun, "mate" means: A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate.
What words are commonly confused with "mate"?
"mate" is commonly confused with "ME", "MT", "may". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "mate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mate" is /meɪt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "mate"?
From Middle English mate, a borrowing from Middle Low German mate (“messmate”) (replacing Middle English mett, mette (“table companion, mate, partner”), from Old English ġemetta (“sharer of food, table-guest”)), from Old Saxon gimato, derived from... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "mate", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

matt#2,744rice#2,758roof#2,760calm#2,777
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list