matchmake

matchmake

English

Alternative forms

• match-make

Etymology

match +‎ make, as back-formation from matchmaking.

Verb

matchmake (third-person singular simple present matchmakes, present participle matchmaking, simple past and past participle matchmade)

1. To do matchmaking: to set up a date between two people or to arrange a marriage.
   • 1865, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, Wives and Daughters:

     And pray remember, I am the last person in the world to match-make.

Translations

to do matchmaking: to set up a date between two people or to arrange a marriage

Belarusian: сва́таць impf (svátacʹ) Chinese: Mandarin: 做媒 (zh) (zuòméi), 保媒 (zh) (bǎoméi) Finnish: välittää naimakauppa, parittaa (fi) (colloquial), naittaa (fi) (colloquial) German: verkuppeln (de) Korean: 중매하다 (jungmaehada), 중매를 서다 (jungmaereul seoda)

Old Church Slavonic: Cyrillic: сватати impf (svatati) Polish: swatać impf Russian: сва́тать (ru) impf (svátatʹ), сосва́тать (ru) pf (sosvátatʹ) Tajik: хостгорӣ кардан (xostgorī kardan) Ukrainian: сва́тати impf (svátaty) Vietnamese: làm mối (vi), làm mai (vi)

Usage notes

• This is rare except in the progressive form matchmaking.

Derived terms

• match-maker, matchmaker
• matchmaking