Etymology

roommate

R1O1O1M3M3A1T1E1

Today it means: A person with whom one shares a room, as in a dormitory, barracks, rooming house, or apartment. Full definition →

English mate ← Middle English mate ← Middle Low German mate
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*Hrew-?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*(H)rewH-
  3. Proto-Germanic*rūmą
  4. Proto-West Germanic*rūm
  5. Old Englishrūm
  6. Middle Englishroum
  7. Englishroom
  8. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
  9. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
  10. Proto-Germanic*ga-
  11. Proto-Indo-European*meh₂d-
  12. Proto-Germanic*matiz
  13. Proto-Germanic*matjô
  14. Proto-West Germanic*gamatjô
  15. Old Saxongimato
  16. Middle Low Germanmate
  17. Middle Englishmate
  18. Englishmate
  19. English todayroommate

From room + -mate.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.