-mate

suffix

Used to form nouns having the sense of "a comrade or fellow with whom what is denoted by the noun is shared".

“classmate, schoolmate”

OriginEnglish mate ← Middle English mate ← Middle Low German mate →
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Meanings

suffix-mate (noun-forming suffix, plural -mates)

plural -mates

  1. Used to form nouns having the sense of "a comrade or fellow with whom what is denoted by the noun is shared".

    classmate, schoolmate

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
  3. Proto-Germanic*ga-
  4. Proto-Indo-European*meh₂d-
  5. Proto-Germanic*matiz
  6. Proto-Germanic*matjô
  7. Proto-West Germanic*gamatjô
  8. Old Saxongimato
  9. Middle Low Germanmate
  10. Middle Englishmate
  11. Englishmate
  12. English-mate

From the noun mate (“fellow, comrade, partner”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

-mate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-mate

MLA

“-mate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-mate. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “-mate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-mate.

Source: -mate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.