matelotage

M3A1T1E1L1O1T1A1G2E1

noun

A social practice of same-sex civil union among seafarers in the 17th and 18th centuries.

OriginFrench matelotage →
Scrabble 13
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Meanings

nounmatelotage (plural matelotages)

plural matelotages

  1. A social practice of same-sex civil union among seafarers in the 17th and 18th centuries.
  2. An instance of such a union.

Origin

  1. Frenchmatelotage
  2. Englishmatelotage

Borrowed from French matelotage.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

matelotage. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/matelotage

MLA

“matelotage.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/matelotage. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “matelotage,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/matelotage.

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