Time to Read: 7 minutes
Quick Overview
There is a whole vocabulary around mate, and it can sound like a secret language at first. This glossary gathers the most common terms, grouped by theme, so you can find what you need and start talking mate like a local. Most words are Spanish, with a few Portuguese terms from Brazil's chimarrão.
As you have probably gathered, there is a huge culture around mate, and with it comes a lot of specific vocabulary. Here are the terms that will ease you into the yerba mate world, sorted so they are easy to browse.
The people and the gathering
Cebador / cebadora: The person who serves (ceba) the mate to the group.
Matero / mateador (masc.), matera / mateadora (fem.): A person who loves drinking mate. “Matera” can also mean a special bag for carrying your mate, bombilla, and thermos.
Mateada: A gathering where people get together to drink mate.
Matear (also yerbear): To drink mate over a long, relaxed stretch of time.
Mateando: In the act of drinking mate.
Preparing and serving
Cebar: To pour hot water over the yerba to brew it.
Aprontar: The prep before drinking, getting the yerba ready, heating the water, and setting the bombilla in place.
Montañita (the mountain): The angled slope of yerba inside the gourd, with the wet, bombilla side lower and the dry, fresh yerba higher on the opposite side.
Ensillar el mate: Removing some spent yerba and topping it up with fresh yerba once the mate is washed out.
Curar: To “cure” a new wooden or gourd cup, closing its pores so it will not affect the flavor, and helping prevent mold.
Chupar: To suck, the action of drinking through the bombilla.
Etiquette and slang
Gracias (thank you): Saying thank you when handed the mate means you have had enough and do not want any more.
Mate del zonzo / mate del bobo (fool's mate): A nickname for the very first mate of the round, which is the most bitter. It is customary for the cebador to drink it themselves. If you offer it to someone, the classic reply is “bobo is the one who doesn't take it.”
Mate con embú (ombú): Ombú is a natural laxative, so “mate with ombú” jokingly means the person serving wants to get rid of you.
Encimar el mate: When the cebador serves the mates too quickly, without pausing between rounds.
Cebar pelando: Serving the mate too hot, which risks burning the yerba.
When things go wrong
Quemar la yerba (burning the yerba): Brewing with water that is too hot (above about 80°C / 176°F), which spoils the flavor.
Agua quemada (burnt water): Water that has been boiled. You should never boil water for mate, for the same reason as above.
Bombilla tapada / mate trancado: A bombilla clogged with fine yerba dust, so the liquid will not come up. Sometimes you have to take the bombilla apart to clear it.
Tapar: To get clogged up with yerba dust.
Mate lavado (washed-out mate): When the yerba has lost its flavor after too many refills, or from being brewed incorrectly or left to cool.
Mate laguna: A washed-out mate so far gone that loose bits of yerba float in the water.
Llanto (crying): When the mate overflows from too much water, usually a sign of an inexperienced cebador.
The cup and the gear
Mate: The word does double duty. It is the caffeinated drink made from the leaves and stems of yerba mate (I. paraguariensis) and hot water, and it is also the name of the gourd you drink it from (also called calabaza or porongo).
Porongo: Another name for the gourd, specifically natural gourd cups.
Poro: From the Quechua “puru,” a small or medium gourd shaped a bit like a rounded pear, sometimes called a “mate pear.”
Guampa: A mate cup made from cattle horn, traditional for cold tereré.
Bombilla: A metal straw with a strainer at the end, usually stainless steel or alpaca. It lets you sip without a mouthful of leaves.
Limpia-bombilla: A bombilla cleaner, like a thin, flexible pipe brush.
Camisinha: A small linen bag slipped over the bombilla to keep fine powder out, common with chimarrão.
Vira-mate: A circular disk used to cover the top of the cup when preparing chimarrão.
Pava (also caldera): A metal kettle for heating water.
Termo (thermos): A vacuum flask that keeps water hot. These days it is essential, since fans carry hot water with them to brew mate anywhere.
Yerbera: A container for storing and carrying yerba, often with a dosing spout.
Equipo de mate: Your full mate kit, the gourd, bombilla, and thermos together.
The yerba and the drinks
Yerba / yerba mate: The product made by toasting and grinding the leaves of I. paraguariensis, used to brew mate.
Yerba mate compuesta: A blend of at least 60% yerba with up to 40% herbs such as mint, thyme, sage, pennyroyal, and rosemary.
Erva-mate: Portuguese for yerba mate, usually associated with chimarrão.
Chimarrão / cimarrón: Traditional hot mate. Cimarrón is the Spanish form of the Portuguese chimarrão; in Argentina and Uruguay it is used to mean bitter mate.
Tereré: Mate prepared with cold or iced water.
Mate cocido: Boiled mate, brewed more like a regular tea or infusion.
Mate de leche: Mate made with hot milk instead of water.
Mate dulce: Mate with sugar.
Yuyos: Added ingredients like ginger, cinnamon, orange peel, or herbs, often to soften or sweeten the mate.
Tip
The one word worth memorizing first is “gracias.” In a mate round, only say it when you are truly finished, since it tells the cebador to stop serving you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why shouldn't I say “thank you” for mate?
In a mate round, “gracias” signals that you have had enough. Say it only when you want the cebador to stop passing you the gourd.
What is a cebador?
The cebador is the person who prepares and serves the mate, refilling the gourd and passing it around the group.
What does “mate lavado” mean?
It means “washed-out mate,” when the yerba has lost its flavor after many refills. That is the cue to swap in fresh yerba.
Ready to put the words into practice?
The best way to learn the language of mate is to drink it. Explore our yerba mate, gourds, and starter kits, and you will be a matero in no time.