messmate meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

messmate

noun

Etymology From mess + mate.

Nautical, Transport An associate with whom one shares a mess (eating place) on a ship.

Messmates, ahoy! Come here! Come here!1879, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, H.M.S. Pinafore; […], San Francisco: Bacon & Company, […], →OCLC:
The cap’n was displeased at that, but my messmates were all of a mind and landed.1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

Australia Any of various eucalypts with rough bark, specifically Eucalyptus obliqua.