🔒 A prison roommate 🙏 A room companion

cellmate

3.5

A person who shares a small private room in a monastery or convent

noun
/ˈsɛlˌmeɪt/

: compañero de celda

If you can't trust your prison cellmate when he gives you a stolen map, then who can you trust?

Examples

Tell you what, we should be cellmates.

Let's Go to Prison (2006)
The report says that although the state's suspension/expulsion rate has fallen over the past five years, the harsh tactics could lead to a "classmate to cellmate" pipeline.

Blog text (3)
How did you get together with your new cellmate?

Undisputed (2002)
Meanwhile, her Bahai cellmate performed her ablutions and prostrated her body on the cold stone.

Fiction book (1998)
Opium's embodied consequences of addiction here demonstrate an agency to control the space of the cell, as Neel soon begins to mimic his cellmate's behaviors.

Academic text (2018)
Laurel turned to her new cellmate and asked about her daily routine in the monastery.
After a long day of work, I enjoyed sharing stories with my cellmate in our small room.
Each morning, my cellmate and I would pray together before starting our day.

Synonyms

roommate

vscellmate

527 1.1

A person who shares a house, apartment, or room with you

lives with someone in a small private religious room rather than ordinary housing

roomie

vscellmate

Informal

26 7.9

A person who shares a room or apartment with you

is used in religious communities for sharing a small private room rather than casual housing

housemate

vscellmate

14 1.8

A person who lives in the same house and is not a family member or partner

shares a small private religious room rather than living in the same house

flatmate

vscellmate

6 2.5

A person who shares a flat or apartment with other people

shares a small private religious room rather than a whole apartment

bunkmate

vscellmate

5 4.2

A person who shares a bunk bed or room with you

stays with someone in a small private religious room rather than just a sleeping space

tentmate

vscellmate

1 3.5

A person who shares a tent with someone while camping

is used for living together in a small private religious room indoors rather than outdoors

campmate

vscellmate

1 4.2

A person who shares a camp with other people

refers to sharing a small private religious room indoors rather than temporary outdoor camp living

Surface Forms

cellmate singular

cellmates plural

Morphology

cellmate = cell + mate (transparent) = cell + mate

Same compositional logic as sense 1: someone who shares a (monastic) cell with another person.

Etymology

Cellmate comes from cell 'small private room' and mate 'companion', like roommate. So a cellmate is someone who shares a small private room in a monastery or similar religious community.