The name given to the plant in the Guaraní, language of the indigenous people who first used mate, is , which has the same meaning as "herb". , in Portuguese, is derived from the Tupi expression, meaning something like "what keeps us alive", but a term rarely used nowadays. "Mate" is from the Quechua , a word that means "container for a drink" and "infusion of an herb", as well as "gourd". The word "mate" is used in modern Portuguese and Spanish.