Meanings
plural matés · alternative mate · alternative matë
- countableAn evergreen tree, Ilex paraguariensis, native to South America, cultivated for its leaves.
Synonyms: yerba mate, yerba
- countableA cup of this drink.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn evergreen tree, Ilex paraguariensis, native to South America, cultivated for its leaves.
nounA beverage, resembling tea, made from the dried leaves of this plant.
nounThe container used to prepare this drink, traditionally a small calabash.
Origin
- Quechuamati
- Spanishmate
- Englishmaté
Borrowed from Spanish mate, from Quechua mati. Here, as well as in the matë variant, the unetymologically accented e serves the purpose in English of marking that vowel as pronounced, as in latte, rather than silent as in mate.
More words from Spanish, Quechua
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مَتَة, مَتَّة
- مَتَة (mata)the beverage maté
- مَتَّة (matta)shrub that produces the beverage maté
Basque mate, mate
- matethe beverage maté
- mateshrub that produces the beverage maté
Bengali মাতে
- মাতে (mate)the beverage maté
Bulgarian мате́
- мате́ (maté)the beverage maté
Chinese Mandarin 馬黛茶 /马黛茶, 瑪黛茶 /玛黛茶
- 馬黛茶 /马黛茶 (mǎdàichá)the beverage maté
- 瑪黛茶 /玛黛茶 (mǎdàichá)the beverage maté
Esperanto mateo
- mateothe beverage maté
Finnish matee, mate
- mateethe beverage maté
- matethe beverage maté
- mateeshrub that produces the beverage maté
German Mate, Matestrauch
- Matethe beverage maté
- Matestrauchshrub that produces the beverage maté
Greek ματέ
- ματέ (maté)the beverage maté
Irish maité
- maitéthe beverage maté
Italian mate
- matethe beverage maté
Japanese マテ茶
- マテ茶 (matecha)the beverage maté
Persian ماته
- ماتهthe beverage maté
Polish mate, yerba mate
- matethe beverage maté
- yerba matethe beverage maté
- mateshrub that produces the beverage maté
- yerba mateshrub that produces the beverage maté
Portuguese chimarrão, mate
- chimarrãothe beverage maté
- matethe beverage maté
- erva-mateshrub that produces the beverage maté
Russian ма́те, па́дуб парагва́йский
- ма́те (mátɛ)the beverage maté
- па́дуб парагва́йский (pádub paragvájskij)shrub that produces the beverage maté
- парагва́йский чай (paragvájskij čaj)shrub that produces the beverage maté
- ма́те (mátɛ)shrub that produces the beverage maté
Spanish mate, yerba
- matethe beverage maté
- yerbathe beverage maté
- yerba matethe beverage maté
- yerba mateshrub that produces the beverage maté
- yerbashrub that produces the beverage maté
Swedish mate, paraguayte
- matethe beverage maté
- paraguaytethe beverage maté
Turkish mate çayı, mate yaprağı
- mate çayıthe beverage maté
- mate yaprağıshrub that produces the beverage maté
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with maté
All rhymes →Cite this entry
maté. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mat%C3%A9
“maté.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mat%C3%A9. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “maté,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mat%C3%A9.
Source: maté on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.