messmate

[ mes-meyt ]

/ ˈmɛsˌmeɪt /

a person, especially a friend, who is a member of a group regularly taking meals together, as in an army camp.

Origin of messmate

First recorded in 1720–30; mess + mate¹

messily, messin, messina, messines, messman, messmate, messroom, messrs, messrs., messuage, messy

Stump recognized the miniature as that of his messmate, John (or Jack) Logan.

Crestlands |Mary Addams Bayne
I at once entered, and found my messmate with his men ready to set out.

Paddy Finn |W. H. G. Kingston
Did you not say it was an unpublished song written by a messmate of yours?

The Cavalier |George Washington Cable
He turned from me and bent down over my messmate, who lay in the bottom of the boat perfectly motionless.

Sail Ho! |George Manville Fenn

If he has a messmate, it is either a clerk, or the paymaster or doctor of the vessel.

Frank on the Lower Mississippi |Harry Castlemon

messmate

/ (ˈmɛsˌmeɪt) /

a person with whom one shares meals in a mess, esp in the army

Australian any of various eucalyptus trees that grow amongst other species