Yokemate

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person joined with another in the same yoke, as in pulling a plow or working as a team
2. Someone bound or paired with another in shared labor or common purpose under a single yoke
3. A companion harnessed together with another to perform joint work or carry a load

Etymology: "Yokemate" is a compound of "yoke" and "mate," and the parts explain it directly. A yoke is the wooden frame that harnesses two draft animals, such as oxen, so they pull together, and "mate" here means a companion or partner, as in "shipmate" or "messmate." Put together, a yokemate is one of the animals bound to the same yoke, a fellow worker held to the same burden. The figurative sense grew naturally from that picture. Anyone who shares a load or a task with another person, especially under constraint, can be called a yokemate, and the image of two beasts forced to pull in step carries most of the word's meaning. The term is a plain English formation from familiar elements rather than a borrowing, so its history lies in the everyday words it joins.