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What is the difference between match and mate?

match | mate |

Mate is a synonym of match.



In intransitive terms the difference between match and mate

is that match is to agree, to be equal, to correspond to while mate is to win a game of chess by putting the opponent in checkmate.

In transitive terms the difference between match and mate

is that match is to equal or exceed in achievement while mate is to fit (objects) together without space between.

match

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) macche, from (etyl)

Noun

(es)
  • (sports) A competitive sporting event such as a boxing meet, a baseball game, or a cricket match.
    • My local team are playing in a match against their arch-rivals today.
  • Any contest or trial of strength or skill, or to determine superiority.
  • * Drayton
    • many a warlike match
  • * Dryden
    • A solemn match was made; he lost the prize.
  • Someone with a measure of an attribute equaling or exceeding the object of comparison.
    • He knew he had met his match .
  • * Addison
    • Government makes an innocent man, though of the lowest rank, a match for the mightiest of his fellow subjects.
  • A marriage.
  • A candidate for matrimony; one to be gained in marriage.
  • * Clarendon
    • She was looked upon as the richest match of the West.
  • Suitability.
  • Equivalence; a state of correspondence. (rfex)
  • Equality of conditions in contest or competition.
  • * Shakespeare
    • It were no match , your nail against his horn.
  • A pair of items or entities with mutually suitable characteristics.
    • The carpet and curtains are a match .
  • An agreement or compact.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Thy hand upon that match .
  • * Boyle
    • Love doth seldom suffer itself to be confined by other matches than those of its own making.
  • (metalworking) A perforated board, block of plaster, hardened sand, etc., in which a pattern is partly embedded when a mould is made, for giving shape to the surfaces of separation between the parts of the mould.
    • Derived terms
    * cage match * first class match * friendly match * grudge match * * love match * Man of the Match/man of the match * match fixing * match made in heaven * match made in hell * matchless * matchmaker * match play/matchplay * matchplayer * match point * match referee * * one-day match * overmatch * post-match * rubber match * shouting match * slanging match * steel cage match * Test match * tour match * whole shitting match * whole shooting match

    Verb

    (es)
  • (lb) To agree, to be equal, to correspond to.
  • :
  • :
  • (lb) To agree, to be equal, to correspond to.
  • :
  • *
  • *:There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1927, author= F. E. Penny
    • , chapter=4, title= Pulling the Strings , passage=Soon after the arrival of Mrs. Campbell, dinner was announced by Abboye. He came into the drawing room resplendent in his gold-and-white turban. […] His cummerbund matched the turban in gold lines.}}
  • (lb) To make a successful match or pairing.
  • :
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838, page=71, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= End of the peer show , passage=Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend.}}
  • (lb) To equal or exceed in achievement.
  • :
  • (lb) To unite in marriage, to mate.
  • *1599 , (William Shakespeare), (Much Ado About Nothing) , :
  • *:Adam's sons are my brethren; and truly, I hold it a sin to match in my kindred.
  • *(Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)
  • *:A senator of Rome survived, / Would not have matched his daughter with a king.
  • To fit together, or make suitable for fitting together; specifically, to furnish with a tongue and groove at the edges.
  • :
    • Derived terms
    * match drill * matcher * matchup * matchy * * overmatch * unmatch
    See also
    * mate

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl)

    Noun

    (es)
  • Device made of wood or paper, at the tip coated with chemicals that ignite with the friction of being dragged (struck) against a rough dry surface.
    • He struck a match and lit his cigarette.
    Synonyms
    * spunk
    Derived terms
    * fireplace match * matchbook, matchbox, matchlock * matchgirl * phosphorus match * quick match * safety match * slow match * strike-anywhere match * sulfur match * sulphur match
    See also
    * fire, lighter, cigarette lighter * strike (to strike a match)

    mate

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl), from (etyl) ). More at (l), (l).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate.
  • (especially of a non-human animal) A breeding partner.
  • (colloquial, British, Australia, New Zealand) A friend, usually of the same sex.
    • I'm going to the pub with a few mates .
    He's my best mate .
  • (colloquial, British, Australia, New Zealand) a colloquial "sir"; an informal and friendly term of address to a stranger, usually male
    • Excuse me, mate , have you got the time?
  • (nautical) In naval ranks, a non-commissioned officer or his subordinate (e.g. (w, Boatswain's Mate), (w, Gunner's Mate), Sailmaker's Mate, etc).
  • (nautical) A ship's officer, subordinate to the master on a commercial ship.
  • (nautical) A first mate.
  • A technical assistant in certain trades (e.g. gasfitter's mate'', ''plumber's mate ); sometimes an apprentice.
  • The other member of a matched pair of objects.
    • ''I found one of the socks I wanted to wear, but I couldn't find its mate .
  • A suitable companion; a match; an equal.
  • * Milton
    • Ye knew me once no mate / For you; there sitting where you durst not soar.
    Synonyms
    (checksyns) * fellow * friend * buddy * sir * partner * See also
    Derived terms
    (Derived terms) * bedmate * bunkmate * cellmate * classmate * crewmate * flatmate * floormate * housemate * mateship * office mate * roommate * shipmate * teammate * tourmate * workmate

    Verb

  • To match, fit together without space between.
    • The pieces of the puzzle mate perfectly.
  • To copulate.
  • To pair in order to raise offspring
  • To arrange in matched pairs.
  • To introduce (animals) together for the purpose of breeding.
  • To marry; to match (a person).
  • * Shakespeare
    • If she be mated with an equal husband.
  • To match oneself against; to oppose as equal; to compete with.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • There is no passion in the mind of man so weak but it mates and masters the fear of death.
  • * Shakespeare
    • I, / Dare mate a sounder man than Surrey can be.
  • To fit (objects) together without space between.
  • (aerospace) To move (a space shuttle orbiter) onto the back of an aircraft that can carry it.
    • Synonyms
    (checksyns) * couple * match * pair
    Antonyms
    * (aerospace) demate
    Derived terms
    * mating

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) verb maten, (etyl) mater, from (etyl) noun .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (chess) Short for checkmate.

    • Verb

  • To win a game of chess by putting the opponent in checkmate
  • To confuse; to confound.
    • (Shakespeare)

    Etymology 3

    See

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • ).
  • The abovementioned plant; the leaves and shoots used for the tea

    • Anagrams

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