What is the feminine form of 'mate'?

Answer 1

'Mate' (noun) is used in several ways....

# a person's marriage partner (either sex) # either one of a pair of breeding animals/birds etc. 'Her mate / His mate / Its mate ...'

# a friend (either sex). 'She's my best mate / He's my best mate.'

# a fellow member of a team (team-mate) # a fellow worker 'My mates at the office'

# a joint occupant (room-mate)

# An officer on a ship crew, subordinate to the ship's master. Originally male only, but now used for a person of either sex in the same role.

# An assistant to a skilled worker e.g. builder's mate/plumber's mate etc. Often male, but not necessarily.

# Informal form of address when a speaking to a male. 'Thanks mate!' So we see that the word 'mate' does not per se mean a male. Often it just means a companion.

The word 'mate' is not gender specific, consequently there is no specific female equivalent.

Of course, depending on the context, there are many nouns that can be used to make reference to a female companion (wife, doe etc etc) but the choice of the particular word would depend on the context.

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Answer 2

In English there are no masculine or feminine forms. English uses gender specific nouns for male or female.

The noun 'mate' is a commongender noun, a word for a male or a female person.

The word mate is also a verb: mate, mates, mating, mated.