mate

英 [meɪt]美 [met]
  • n. 助手，大副；配偶；同事；配对物
  • vt. 使配对；使一致；结伴
  • vi. 交配；成配偶；紧密配合
  • n. (Mate)人名；(日)蛏(姓)；(西、意、塞)马特；(波黑)马特；(罗、俄)马泰
CET4 TEM4 GRE 考研 TOEFL CET6 中频词 核心词汇

中文词源

mate 伙伴，伴侣，交配

来自低地德语gemate,同桌吃饭的人，餐桌伙伴，来自Proto-Germanic*ga-maton,一起吃饭，来自*ga-,一起，词源同com-,*maton,食物，词源同meat.引申词义伙伴，伴侣，以及动物交配等。

mate 将军，将死

来自波斯语mat,死掉的，杀死，词源同matador,checkmate.

英文词源

mate
mate: [14] Mate ‘friend’ and mate the chess term are two distinct words. The former was borrowed from Middle Low German mate or gemate ‘companion’ (source also of Dutch maat), which goes back to a prehistoric West Germanic *gamaton. This was formed from the collective prefix *ga- and *mat- ‘measure’, which was also the source of English meat; so etymologically mate (like companion) is ‘someone you eat with or share your food with’.

The chess term mate comes from Old French mat ‘dead’. This was short for eschec mat (source of English checkmate), which comes from Persian shāh māt ‘the king is dead’. Persian māt ‘dead’ also contributed the verb matar ‘kill’ to Spanish, from which was derived matador [17], literally ‘killer’.
=> meat; mat, matador, matte
mate (n.1)
"associate, fellow, comrade," mid-14c., also "companion" (late 14c.), from Middle Low German mate, gemate "one eating at the same table, messmate," from Proto-Germanic *ga-maton "having food (*matiz) together (*ga-)," which is etymologically identical with companion. Cognate with Danish and Swedish mat, German Maat "mate," Dutch maat, from German. Meaning "one of a wedded pair" is attested from 1540s. Used as a form of address by sailors, laborers, etc., since at least mid-15c. Meaning "officer on a merchant vessel is from late 15c.
mate (v.1)
c. 1500, "to equal, rival," 1590s as "to match, couple, marry, join in marriage," from mate (n.1). Also, of animals, "to pair for the purpose of breeding." Related: Mated; mating.
mate (v.2)
"checkmate," c. 1300, from Old French mater "to checkmate, defeat, overcome," from mat "checkmated" (see checkmate (v.)).
mate (n.2)
in chess, "a condition of checkmate," c. 1300, mat, from Middle French mat, from Old French mater (see mate (v.2)).

双语例句

1. "How are you, mate?" — "Not bad, mate, how's yourself?"
“最近怎么样，老兄？”——“还不错，你呢？”
来自柯林斯例句
2. They want the males to mate with wild females.
他们希望这些雄性动物可以和野生的雌性动物交配。
来自柯林斯例句
3. Kathy is a great mate, we are like sisters.
凯茜是个很好的伙伴，我们亲如姐妹。
来自柯林斯例句
4. A mate of mine used to play soccer for Liverpool.
我的一个朋友在利物浦队踢过球。
来自柯林斯例句
5. Last Saturday, I was out on the town with my mate.
上个星期六我和老友晚上去闹市玩乐了。
来自柯林斯例句