‖ maté, n.3
(ˈmæteɪ)
Also 8 mathe, mathè, 8–9 matte, mati.
[Sp. mate, a. Quichua mati, explained in Gonzalez Holguin's Vocab. de la lengua Quichua (1608) as ‘vessel or dish made of calabash’.]
1. A vessel, usually a gourd or calabash, in which the leaves of maté (see 2) are infused; also maté-cup.
| 1717 tr. Frezier's Voy. 252 They put the Herb [of Paraguay] into a Cup, or Bowl, made of a Calabash, or Gourd, tipp'd with Silver, which they call Mate. 1826 Sir F. B. Head Journ. Pampas 87 He used to get it for me..in a little maté cup, which did not hold more than an egg-shell. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXIV. 135/1 It [the Maté] is drunk out of a vessel called maté. 1884 Health Exhib. Catal. 9/1 Specimens of Maté or Paraguay Tea, with Maté Cup. |
2. a. An infusion of the leaves of the shrub Ilex paraguayensis; Paraguay-tea (see Paraguay).
| 1758 Misc. in Ann. Reg. 363/1 The pure leaf, the infusion of which is called mate. 1760–72 tr. Juan & Ulloa's Voy. (ed. 3) I. 270 Another common liquor in this country [sc. Quito] is the mate, which answers to tea in the East Indies. 1883 Encycl. Brit. XV. 627/2 Maté acts as a restorative after great fatigue in the same manner as tea. 1901 Brit. Med. Jrnl. No. 2092. 301 The major part of the Estancieros (farmers) are great meat eaters and enormous consumers of maté or Paraguayan tea. |
b. The shrub itself; also, its leaves prepared for infusion.
| 1768 J. Byron Narr. Patagonia (ed. 2) 193 Matte, a herb from Paraguay. 1777 Robertson Hist. Amer. Note ci. II. 518 From the trade of Mathè, or herb of Paraguay. 1818 T. Bland S. Amer. in Amer. St. Papers, For. Relat. (1834) IV. 279 The young shoots and leaves of the matte, it would seem, have received the name of yerba, rather from [etc.]. 1859 All Year Round No. 32. 127 Cultivate the mati. 1866 Treas. Bot. 618/2 The drinking tube is then inserted, and boiling water poured on the Maté. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. iii. 186 Paraguay Tea, or Maté... A small shrub with oval, wedge-form..smooth leaves. |
c. attrib., as maté pot, maté wood; maté mangosteen, Garcinia purpurea (Drury Useful Pl. India 1873, p. 223).
| 1879 J. Beerbohm Patagonia iii. 30 The tobacco-pipe and the maté-pot went round the circle without any intermission. 1883 Encycl. Brit. XV. 627/1 A yerbal or maté wood. |