Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for matelot. Search instead for potelot.

matelot

American  
[mat-loh, mat-l-oh] / ˈmæt loʊ, ˈmæt lˌoʊ /
Or matelow

noun

British Slang.
  1. a sailor.


matelot British  
/ ˈmætləʊ /

noun

  1. slang a sailor

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of matelot

1910–15; < French ≪ Middle Dutch mattenoot sailor, equivalent to matte mat 1 + noot companion ( Dutch genoot )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

They were the only places you’d get French imported stuff from – the hipster trousers and matelot shirts – which we liked.

From The Guardian • May 17, 2015

He had been a matelot, he said,—made a long voyage, and once touched at an English port.

From Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia with Notices of their History, Antiquities, and Present Condition. by Forester, Thomas

Also, no man has more than one matelot.

From Caribbee by Hoover, Thomas

No excuse was allowed; and if illness prevented the man elected taking the office, his matelot, or companion, took his place.

From The Monarchs of the Main, Volume I (of 3) Or, Adventures of the Buccaneers by Thornbury, Walter

On one occasion, one of them escaped into the plains, but returned three days after, very complacently heading a herd of hogs, of which his master and his matelot killed four.

From The Monarchs of the Main, Volume I (of 3) Or, Adventures of the Buccaneers by Thornbury, Walter