matchmaker (1)

[Eng. match (1), s., and maker.] One who makes matches for burning. mătch-māk-er (2), 8. [Eng. match (2), s., and maker.] One who contrives or arranges marriages. match-māk-ing, a. & 8. [Eng. match (2), s., and making .] A. As adj.: Anxious or trying to arrange marriages; as, matchmaking mothers. B. As subst.: The act or practice of arranging marriages. māte (1), s . [A corruption of Mid. Eng. make =a companion, a mate; A. S. gemaca , mac a =a mate; cogn. with Icel. maki; Sw. make ; Dan. mage; O. Sax. gi - maho; Old Danish maet ; Dutch maat .] [MAKE, 8.] I. Ordinary Language : 1. One who ordinarily a ociates with another; a companion, an a ociate. "It seemed, like me, to want a mate, But was not half so desolate." Byron: Prisoner of Chillon, z. 2. A suitable companion; a match. 3. A husband or wife. "Thou hast no unkind mate to grieve thee." Shakesp.: Comedy of Errors, ii. 1. 4. One of a pair of birds or animals which a ociate for the propagation and care of young. IMG:content-0992.png:[blocks in formation] "When he saw them so piteous and so mate." Chaucer: C. Т. , 958. măt-e-çër-ic, a. [Eng., ., maté , and ceric .] (See the compound.) mate ceric-acid, s . Chem.: An acid obtained from the wax of the Yerba mate ( Ilex paraguay ens is ). It is a white substance, having acid properties, soluble in ether and in boiling alcohol, and melting at 105°-110°. Its specific gravity is 0-8151 at 26°. māte-le , a. [Eng. mate (1), s.; -le .] Without a mate or companion; solitary, deserted. "Daughter too divine as woman to be noted, Spouse of only death in matele maidenhood." A. C. Swinburne: Athens.