shelfmate

S1H4E1L1F4M3A1T1E1

noun

A book or other object located on the same shelf.

OriginEnglish mate ← Middle English mate ← Middle Low German mate →
Scrabble 17
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Meanings

nounshelfmate (plural shelfmates)

plural shelfmates

  1. A book or other object located on the same shelf.

    Roger pushed in a book that was protruding beyond its shelfmates.

    2017, Stuart Fortey, The Diva in the Duck Pond, page 63

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*(s)kelH-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*(s)kel(H)-p-
  3. Proto-Germanic*skelfō
  4. Proto-West Germanic*skelfu:
  5. Proto-West Germanic*skilfijā
  6. Old Englishsċylfe?
  7. Middle Englishschelfe
  8. Englishshelf
  9. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
  10. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
  11. Proto-Germanic*ga-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*meh₂d-
  13. Proto-Germanic*matiz
  14. Proto-Germanic*matjô
  15. Proto-West Germanic*gamatjô
  16. Old Saxongimato
  17. Middle Low Germanmate
  18. Middle Englishmate
  19. Englishmate
  20. Englishshelfmate

From shelf + -mate.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

fleshmeat
Cite this entry
APA

shelfmate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shelfmate

MLA

“shelfmate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shelfmate. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shelfmate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shelfmate.

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