# mate

> English word · Noun · IPA /meɪt/ · frequency rank #2,743

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

## 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)).

## Easily confused with
- **ME** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mate-vs-me)
- **MT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mate-vs-mt)
- **may** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mate-vs-may)
- **met** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mate-vs-met)
- **max** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mate-vs-max)
- **MTV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mate-vs-mtv)
- **mit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mate-vs-mit)
- **moe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mate-vs-moe)
- **mot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mate-vs-mot)
- **Mau** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mate-vs-mau)
- **mee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mate-vs-mee)
- **maw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mate-vs-maw)
- **Mme** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mate-vs-mme)
- **MBE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mate-vs-mbe)
- **MTA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mate-vs-mta)
- **MST** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mate-vs-mst)
- **MRT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mate-vs-mrt)
- **Mie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mate-vs-mie)
- **more** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mate-vs-more)
- **move** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mate-vs-move)

## Common misspellings (3)
`amte`, `mmate`, `mtae`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/mate