"matey" meaning in English

See matey in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

Audio: En-au-matey.ogg [Australia] Forms: matier [comparative], matiest [superlative]
Rhymes: -eɪti Etymology: From mate + -y. Etymology templates: {{suffix|en|mate|y}} mate + -y Head templates: {{en-adj|matier}} matey (comparative matier, superlative matiest)
  1. (UK) Sociable or friendly. Tags: UK
    Sense id: en-matey-en-adj-dz67TL1f Categories (other): British English

Noun

Audio: En-au-matey.ogg [Australia] Forms: mateys [plural]
Rhymes: -eɪti Etymology: From mate + -y. Etymology templates: {{suffix|en|mate|y}} mate + -y Head templates: {{en-noun}} matey (plural mateys)
  1. (informal) Diminutive of mate, friend. Tags: diminutive, form-of, informal Form of: mate, friend
    Sense id: en-matey-en-noun-5-hZh1vP
  2. (nautical, slang) A fellow sailor; often used affectedly, especially when portraying a pirate. Tags: slang Categories (topical): Nautical
    Sense id: en-matey-en-noun-mZRGpI8B Topics: nautical, transport
  3. (nautical, slang) A dockyard worker. Tags: slang Categories (topical): Nautical
    Sense id: en-matey-en-noun-37N5q37j Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with language name categories using raw markup, English terms suffixed with -y Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 25 3 27 44 Disambiguation of English entries with language name categories using raw markup: 25 3 23 49 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -y: 23 4 20 53 Topics: nautical, transport

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for matey meaning in English (8.0kB)

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        "1": "en",
        "2": "mate",
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  "etymology_text": "From mate + -y.",
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        "comparative"
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        {
          "text": "You've been very matey with that new bird."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1948, Dennis Wheatley, The Haunting of Toby Jugg, published 2007, page 148",
          "text": "She asked in what sort of accident I had broken my back, and when I told her that I had been shot down she became much more matey.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1995, Gwynneth Latham, Michael C. Latham, Kilimanjaro Tales: The Saga of a Medical Family in Africa, page 140",
          "text": "We decided that it would be more matey to have communal meals, so all the guests and hosts foregathered at the hotel for lunches and dinners, and at every sitting there were about 40 of us, all in high spirits.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "text": "2002, Jon Latimer, Alamein, page 128,\nhe wrote: ‘They took a bit of getting used to. I was dressed as a general and they treated me in the most matey way, but despite this it was easy to see that there was nothing wrong with their battle discipline.’"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002, Alan Di Perna, Guitar World, Guitar World Presents: Pink Floyd, page 29",
          "text": "His opening salvo, “If you didn′t care what happened to me, and I didn′t care for you,” gives way to a more matey mood at the end: “You know that I care what happens to you. And I know that you care for me.”",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005, Donald H. Akenson, An Irish History of Civilization, volume 2, page 293",
          "text": "Adolphus Egerton Ryerson was his full name, but he insisted on being called Egerton Ryerson, under the mistaken conviction that this was much more matey than Adolphus.",
          "type": "quotation"
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      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/En-au-matey.ogg",
      "tags": [
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  "etymology_text": "From mate + -y.",
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  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Hello, matey, just back from the pub?"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1909, National Magazine, volume 30, page 171",
          "text": "No, no, matey, I means no harm. Ye see, I think I done ye a bad turn onst, an′ I′m minded t′ do ye right afore I goes off. You bring a writer here, matey, an′ I′ll tell ye what.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "text": "1920, Francis Stevens (Gertrude Barrows Bennett), Claimed, 2009, Munsey′s, page 49,\nAnd take my advice, matey. When yer buys it, don′t yer make Lutz′s mistake and think yer can wriggle out easy."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1981, Wright Morris, Writing My Life: An Autobiography, page 247",
          "text": "“You've got great legs, matey,” he said to me. “You know that?” They were good straight legs, and could run, but I had always thought them too much on the lean side.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
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      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Ahoy mateys, scrub the deck!"
        },
        {
          "text": "c. 1906, Herbert Strang (pseudonym), In Clive′s Command, 2006, Echo Library, page 35,\n“Well, we are and we en′t, eh, mateys? The Waterman′s Rest en′t exactly the kind of place to spend shore leave; it en′t a patch on Wapping or Rotherhithe. […] ”"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1979, Larona Homer, “Blackbeard the Pirate”, in Blackbeard the Pirate and Other Stories of the Pine Barrens, page 91",
          "text": "“Well, Mateys,” he said, “heave to. Rum for all.”\nThe pirates grabbed their bottles, and as they drank they began to sing and laugh and shout at each other.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003, Paul Abbaszadeh, One Love: A True Love Story, page 318",
          "text": "Soon the talking skull came into view and gave us a warning,\n“Avast there, it be to late to alter course mateys and there be plundering pirates lurking in every cove waiting to board.[…]”",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Molly Burkhart, My Gigolo, unnumbered page",
          "text": "“Ahoy, mateys!” The chorus came from all sides, and he fought the urge to snicker.\nShe nudged him with her elbow, and he looked down to find her eyes twinkling.\n“Hope you brushed up on your pirate lingo. The desk is over there. I gotta go use the little wench′s room.”\nHe watched her go with a grin and nearly laughed again when he saw the signs on the bathroom doors. Wenches and Mateys. Good God.",
          "type": "quotation"
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        {
          "ref": "1979, Alfred Draper, Operation Fish: The Race to Save Europe's Wealth, 1939-1945, page 48",
          "text": "He got the dockyard 'mateys' to install a primitive form of steam heating which he had seen in Navy ships […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Gordon W. Stead, A Leaf upon the Sea, page 63",
          "text": "Mediterranean peoples are thought to be excitable, but the Maltese stood up to the blitz with great aplomb, especially the dghaisa men who plowed back and forth across the harbours regardless of the raids, the mateys who made the devastated dockyard work, and all who served in units of the armed forces.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
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      "glosses": [
        "A dockyard worker."
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(nautical, slang) A dockyard worker."
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      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/En-au-matey.ogg",
      "tags": [
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      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "You've been very matey with that new bird."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1948, Dennis Wheatley, The Haunting of Toby Jugg, published 2007, page 148",
          "text": "She asked in what sort of accident I had broken my back, and when I told her that I had been shot down she became much more matey.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1995, Gwynneth Latham, Michael C. Latham, Kilimanjaro Tales: The Saga of a Medical Family in Africa, page 140",
          "text": "We decided that it would be more matey to have communal meals, so all the guests and hosts foregathered at the hotel for lunches and dinners, and at every sitting there were about 40 of us, all in high spirits.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "text": "2002, Jon Latimer, Alamein, page 128,\nhe wrote: ‘They took a bit of getting used to. I was dressed as a general and they treated me in the most matey way, but despite this it was easy to see that there was nothing wrong with their battle discipline.’"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002, Alan Di Perna, Guitar World, Guitar World Presents: Pink Floyd, page 29",
          "text": "His opening salvo, “If you didn′t care what happened to me, and I didn′t care for you,” gives way to a more matey mood at the end: “You know that I care what happens to you. And I know that you care for me.”",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005, Donald H. Akenson, An Irish History of Civilization, volume 2, page 293",
          "text": "Adolphus Egerton Ryerson was his full name, but he insisted on being called Egerton Ryerson, under the mistaken conviction that this was much more matey than Adolphus.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Sociable or friendly."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Sociable",
          "sociable"
        ],
        [
          "friendly",
          "friendly"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK) Sociable or friendly."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK"
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      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/En-au-matey.ogg",
      "tags": [
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  "word": "matey"
}

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  "etymology_text": "From mate + -y.",
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          "text": "Hello, matey, just back from the pub?"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1909, National Magazine, volume 30, page 171",
          "text": "No, no, matey, I means no harm. Ye see, I think I done ye a bad turn onst, an′ I′m minded t′ do ye right afore I goes off. You bring a writer here, matey, an′ I′ll tell ye what.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "text": "1920, Francis Stevens (Gertrude Barrows Bennett), Claimed, 2009, Munsey′s, page 49,\nAnd take my advice, matey. When yer buys it, don′t yer make Lutz′s mistake and think yer can wriggle out easy."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1981, Wright Morris, Writing My Life: An Autobiography, page 247",
          "text": "“You've got great legs, matey,” he said to me. “You know that?” They were good straight legs, and could run, but I had always thought them too much on the lean side.",
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        "(informal) Diminutive of mate, friend."
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          "text": "Ahoy mateys, scrub the deck!"
        },
        {
          "text": "c. 1906, Herbert Strang (pseudonym), In Clive′s Command, 2006, Echo Library, page 35,\n“Well, we are and we en′t, eh, mateys? The Waterman′s Rest en′t exactly the kind of place to spend shore leave; it en′t a patch on Wapping or Rotherhithe. […] ”"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1979, Larona Homer, “Blackbeard the Pirate”, in Blackbeard the Pirate and Other Stories of the Pine Barrens, page 91",
          "text": "“Well, Mateys,” he said, “heave to. Rum for all.”\nThe pirates grabbed their bottles, and as they drank they began to sing and laugh and shout at each other.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003, Paul Abbaszadeh, One Love: A True Love Story, page 318",
          "text": "Soon the talking skull came into view and gave us a warning,\n“Avast there, it be to late to alter course mateys and there be plundering pirates lurking in every cove waiting to board.[…]”",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Molly Burkhart, My Gigolo, unnumbered page",
          "text": "“Ahoy, mateys!” The chorus came from all sides, and he fought the urge to snicker.\nShe nudged him with her elbow, and he looked down to find her eyes twinkling.\n“Hope you brushed up on your pirate lingo. The desk is over there. I gotta go use the little wench′s room.”\nHe watched her go with a grin and nearly laughed again when he saw the signs on the bathroom doors. Wenches and Mateys. Good God.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
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        "A fellow sailor; often used affectedly, especially when portraying a pirate."
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(nautical, slang) A fellow sailor; often used affectedly, especially when portraying a pirate."
      ],
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        "slang"
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        "nautical",
        "transport"
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        {
          "ref": "1979, Alfred Draper, Operation Fish: The Race to Save Europe's Wealth, 1939-1945, page 48",
          "text": "He got the dockyard 'mateys' to install a primitive form of steam heating which he had seen in Navy ships […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Gordon W. Stead, A Leaf upon the Sea, page 63",
          "text": "Mediterranean peoples are thought to be excitable, but the Maltese stood up to the blitz with great aplomb, especially the dghaisa men who plowed back and forth across the harbours regardless of the raids, the mateys who made the devastated dockyard work, and all who served in units of the armed forces.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A dockyard worker."
      ],
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(nautical, slang) A dockyard worker."
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      "tags": [
        "Australia"
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      "text": "Audio (AU)"
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  "word": "matey"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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