messmate - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English
Etymology
Noun
messmate (plural messmates)
- (nautical) An associate with whom one shares a mess (eating place) on a ship.
1879, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, H.M.S. Pinafore; […], San Francisco: Bacon & Company, […], →OCLC:
Messmates, ahoy! Come here! Come here!
1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
The cap’n was displeased at that, but my messmates were all of a mind and landed.
- (Australia) Any of various eucalypts with rough bark, specifically Eucalyptus obliqua.