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Mate

- 20 dictionary results

mate

1[meyt] noun, verb, mat⋅ed, mat⋅ing.
–noun
1. husband or wife; spouse.
2. one member of a pair of mated animals.
3. one of a pair: I can't find the mate to this glove.
4. a counterpart.
5. an associate; fellow worker; comrade; partner (often used in combination): classmate; roommate.
6. friend; buddy; pal (often used as an informal term of address): Let me give you a hand with that, mate.
7. Nautical.
a. first mate.
b. any of a number of officers of varying degrees of rank subordinate to the master of a merchant ship.
c. an assistant to a warrant officer or other functionary on a ship.
8. an aide or helper, as to an artisan; factotum.
9. a gear, rack, or worm engaging with another gear or worm.
10. Archaic. an equal in reputation; peer; match.
–verb (used with object)
11. to join as a mate or as mates.
12. to bring (animals) together for breeding purposes.
13. to match or marry.
14. to join, fit, or associate suitably: to mate thought with daring action.
15. to connect or link: a telephone system mated to a computerized information service.
16. to treat as comparable.
–verb (used without object)
17. to associate as a mate or as mates.
18. (of animals) to copulate.
19. (of animals) to pair for the purpose of breeding.
20. to marry.
21. (of a gear, rack, or worm) to engage with another gear or worm; mesh.
22. Archaic. to consort; keep company.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME < MLG; r. ME mette, OE gemetta messmate, guest. See meat


mateless, adjective

mate

2[meyt] noun, verb (used with object), mat⋅ed, mat⋅ing, interjection Chess.
checkmate (defs. 1, 3, 5).

Origin:
1175–1225; ME mat defeated (adj.), defeat (n.) < OF ≪ Pers; see checkmate

ma⋅te

3[mah-tey, mat-ey]
–noun
maté.

ma⋅té

[mah-tey, mat-ey, mah-tey]
–noun
1. a tealike South American beverage made from the dried leaves of an evergreen tree.
2. a South American tree, Ilex paraguariensis, that is the source of this beverage.
3. the dried leaves of this tree.
Also, mate.


Origin:
1710–20; < AmerSp mate, orig. the vessel in which the herb is steeped < Quechua mati

Mat.E.

Materials Engineer.

check⋅mate

[chek-meyt] noun, verb, -mat⋅ed, -mat⋅ing, interjection
–noun
1. Also called mate. Chess.
a. an act or instance of maneuvering the opponent's king into a check from which it cannot escape, thus bringing the game to a victorious conclusion.
b. the position of the pieces when a king is checkmated.
2. a complete check; defeat: His efforts to escape met with a checkmate.
–verb (used with object)
3. Chess. to maneuver (an opponent's king) into a check from which it cannot escape; mate.
4. to check completely; defeat: Napoleon was checkmated at Waterloo.
–interjection
5. Chess. (used by a player to announce that he or she has put the opponent's king into inextricable check.)

Origin:
1300–50; ME chek mat(e) < MF escec mat < Ar shāh māt < Pers: lit., the king (is) checked, nonplussed

first mate

–noun
the officer of a merchant vessel next in command beneath the captain.
Also called chief mate, chief officer, first officer, mate.
mate 1   (māt)   
n.  
  1. One of a matched pair: the mate to this glove.
  2. A spouse.
    1. Either of a pair of animals or birds that associate in order to propagate.
    2. Either of a pair of animals brought together for breeding.
    3. A person with whom one is in close association; an associate.
    4. Chiefly British A good friend or companion.
    5. A person with whom one shares living quarters. Often used in combination: advertised for a new flatmate.
    1. A person with whom one is in close association; an associate.
    2. Chiefly British A good friend or companion.
    3. A person with whom one shares living quarters. Often used in combination: advertised for a new flatmate.
  3. A deck officer on a merchant ship ranking next below the master.
  4. A U.S. Navy petty officer who is an assistant to a warrant officer.
v.   mat·ed, mat·ing, mates

v.   tr.
  1. To join closely; pair.
  2. To unite in marriage.
  3. To pair (animals) for breeding.
v.   intr.
  1. To become joined in marriage.
    1. To be paired for reproducing; breed.
    2. To copulate.

[Middle English, from Middle Low German gemate, mate, messmate.]
mate 2   (māt)   
n.  A checkmate.
tr. & intr.v.   mat·ed, mat·ing, mates
To checkmate or achieve a checkmate.

[Middle English, from Old French mat, checkmated, from Arabic māt, he has died; see checkmate.]
ma·té   (mä'tā, mä-tě')   
n.  
  1. A South American evergreen tree (Ilex paraguariensis) widely cultivated for its leaves, which are used to prepare a tealike beverage.
  2. A tealike beverage, popular in South America, made from the dried leaves of this plant. Also called Paraguay tea, yerba maté.

[American Spanish, from Quechua mate, hollow gourd used as a bowl or container for brewing yerba maté.]

Mate

Ma"te\, n. [Sp.] The Paraguay tea, being the dried leaf of the Brazilian holly (Ilex Paraguensis). The infusion has a pleasant odor, with an agreeable bitter taste, and is much used for tea in South America.

Mate

Mate\, n. [F. mat, abbrev. fr. ['e]chec et mat. See Checkmate.] (Chess) Same as Checkmate.

Mate

Mate\, a. See 2d Mat. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Mate

Mate\, v. t. [F. mater to fatigue, enfeeble, humiliate, checkmate. See Mate checkmate.]

1. To confuse; to confound. [Obs.] --Shak.

2. To checkmate.

Mate

Mate\, n. [Perhaps for older make a companion; cf. also OD. maet companion, mate, D. maat. Cf. Make a companion, Match a mate.]

1. One who customarily associates with another; a companion; an associate; any object which is associated or combined with a similar object.

2. Hence, specifically, a husband or wife; and among the lower animals, one of a pair associated for propagation and the care of their young.

3. A suitable companion; a match; an equal.

Ye knew me once no mate For you; there sitting where you durst not soar. --Milton.

4. (Naut.) An officer in a merchant vessel ranking next below the captain. If there are more than one bearing the title, they are called, respectively, first mate, second mate, third mate, etc. In the navy, a subordinate officer or assistant; as, master's mate; surgeon's mate.

Mate

Mate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mated; p. pr. & vb. n. Mating.]

1. To match; to marry.

If she be mated with an equal husband. --Shak.

2. To match one's self against; to oppose as equal; to compete with.

There is no passion in the mind of man so weak but it mates and masters the fear of death. --Bacon.

I, . . . in the way of loyalty and truth, . . . Dare mate a sounder man than Surrey can be. --Shak.

Mate

Mate\, v. i. To be or become a mate or mates, especially in sexual companionship; as, some birds mate for life; this bird will not mate with that one.
Language Translation for : Mate
Spanish: aparear, acoplar,
German: sich paaren,
Japanese: つがう

mate  (n.)
"companion, associate, fellow, comrade," c.1380, from M.L.G. mate, gemate "one eating at the same table, messmate," from P.Gmc. *ga-maton "having food (*matiz) together (*ga-)," which is etymologically identical with companion (q.v.). Meaning "one of a wedded pair" is attested from 1549. Used as a form of address by sailors, laborers, etc., since at least 1450. Meaning "officer on a merchant vessel is from 1496. The verb, of animals, "to pair for the purpose of breeding" is first recorded 1601. The verb in chess (c.1320) is short for checkmate (q.v.) and is not related.

Main Entry: mate
Function: verb
Inflected Forms: mated; mat·ing
transitive senses
: to pair or join for breeding mateintransitive senses
: COPULATE

mate 1 (māt)
n.

  1. A spouse.
  2. Either of a pair of animals or birds that associate in order to propagate.
  3. Either of a pair of animals brought together for breeding.
v. mat·ed, mat·ing, mates
  1. To become joined in marriage.
  2. To be paired for reproducing; breed.
  3. To copulate.

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