Meanings
nounmessmate (plural messmates)
plural messmates
- nauticalAn associate with whom one shares a mess (eating place) on a ship.
Messmates, ahoy! Come here! Come here!
1879, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, H.M.S. Pinafore; […], San Francisco: Bacon & Company, […], →OCLC1 more example
The cap’n was displeased at that, but my messmates were all of a mind and landed.
1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC - AustraliaAny of various eucalypts with rough bark, specifically Eucalyptus obliqua.
Origin
Translations
Bulgarian сътрапезник
- сътрапезник (sătrapeznik)an associate with whom one shares a mess
Finnish messitoveri
- messitoverian associate with whom one shares a mess
German Schüsselgenosse, Tischgenosse
- Schüsselgenossean associate with whom one shares a mess
- Tischgenossean associate with whom one shares a mess
- Mitesseran associate with whom one shares a mess
Spanish comensal
- comensalan associate with whom one shares a mess
Swedish mässkamrat
- mässkamratan associate with whom one shares a mess
Cite this entry
APA
messmate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/messmate
MLA
“messmate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/messmate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “messmate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/messmate.
Source: messmate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.