Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 11th Edition
MATE
I. transitive verb (mated; mating)
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French mater, from mat, noun , checkmate, ultimately from Arabic māt (in shāh māt)
Date: 14th century
checkmate 2,
II. noun
Date: 14th century
checkmate 1,
III. noun see: meat
Date: 14th century
1. a. associate , companion , an assistant to a more skilled worker ; helper , friend , buddy , match , peer , a deck officer on a merchant ship ranking below the captain, one of a pair: as, either member of a couple and especially a married couple, either member of a breeding pair of animals, either of two matched objects,
IV. verb (mated; mating)
Date: 1509
transitive verb equal , match , to join or fit together ; couple ,
3. to join together as mates, to provide a mate for, intransitive verb to become mated , copulate