• Matey

    Pronunciation

    • Rhymes: -eɪti

    Origin

    From mate + -y.

    Full definition of matey

    Adjective

    matey

    1. (UK) Sociable or friendly.You've been very matey with that new bird.
    Australians 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.’

    Noun

    matey

    (plural mateys)
    1. (informal) Diminutive of mate, friend.Hello, matey, just back from the pub?
      • 1909, National Magazine, Volume 30, page 171,“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.”
      • 1920, Francis Stevens (Gertrude Barrows Bennett), Claimed, 2009, Munsey′s, page 49,And take my advice, matey. When yer buys it, don′t yer make Lutz′s mistake and think yer can wriggle out easy.
      • 1981, Wright Morris, Writing My Life: An Autobiography, page 247,“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.
    2. (nautical, slang) A fellow sailor; often used affectedly, especially as a pirate.Ahoy mateys, scrub the deck!
      • circa 1906 Herbert Strang (pseudonym), In Clive′s Command, 2006, Echo Library, page 35,“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....”
      • 1979, Larona Homer, Blackbeard the Pirate, in Blackbeard the Pirate and Other Stories of the Pine Barrens, page 91,“Well, Mateys,” he said, “heave to. Rum for all.”The pirates grabbed their bottles, and as they drank they began to sing and laugh and shout at each other.
      • 2003, Paul Abbaszadeh, One Love: A True Love Story, page 318,Soon the talking skull came into view and gave us a warning,“Avast there, it be to late to alter course mateys and there be plundering pirates lurking in every cove waiting to board....”
      • 2010, Molly Burkhart, My Gigolo, unnumbered page,“Ahoy, mateys!” The chorus came from all sides, and he fought the urge to snicker.She nudged him with her elbow, and he looked down to find her eyes twinkling.“Hope you brushed up on your pirate lingo. The desk is over there. I gotta go use the little wench′s room.”He watched her go with a grin and nearly laughed again when he saw the signs on the bathroom doors. Wenches and Mateys. Good God.

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