ate
verb
simple past tense of eat.
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ate
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Ate
Atenounan ancient Greek goddess personifying the fatal blindness or recklessness that produces crime and the divine punishment that follows it.
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ATE
ATEequipment that makes a series of tests automatically.
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-ate
-atea suffix occurring in loanwords from Latin, its English distribution paralleling that of Latin. The form originated as a suffix added to a- stem verbs to form adjectives (separate ). The resulting form could also be used independently as a noun (advocate ) and came to be used as a stem on which a verb could be formed (separate; advocate; agitate ). In English the use as a verbal suffix has been extended to stems of non-Latin origin: calibrate; acierate .
ate
1 American
[eyt, et]
/ eɪt, ɛt /
verb
Ate
2
American
[ey-tee, ah-tee]
/ ˈeɪ ti, ˈɑ ti /
noun
ATE
3
American
-ate
4
American
-ate
5
American
-ate
6
American
-ate
1
British
suffix
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(forming adjectives) possessing; having the appearance or characteristics of
fortunate
palmate
Latinate
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(forming nouns) a chemical compound, esp a salt or ester of an acid
carbonate
stearate
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(forming nouns) the product of a process
condensate
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forming verbs from nouns and adjectives
hyphenate
rusticate
-ate
2
British
suffix
Ate
3
British
/ ˈɑːtɪ, ˈeɪtɪ /
noun
ate
4
British
/ eɪt, ɛt /
verb
Etymology
Origin of Ate2
< Greek, special use of átē reckless impulse, ruin, akin to aáein to mislead, harm
Origin of ATE3
a(utomatic) t(est) e(quipment)
Origin of -ate4
< Latin -ātus (masculine), -āta (feminine), -ātum (neuter), equivalent to -ā- thematic vowel + -tus, -ta, -tum past participle suffix
Origin of -ate5
Probably originally in New Latin phrases, as plumbum acetātum salt produced by the action of acetic acid on lead
Origin of -ate6
< Latin -ātus (genitive -ātūs ), generalized from v. derivatives, as augurātus office of an augur ( augurā(re) to foretell by augury + -tus suffix of v. action), construed as derivative of augur augur 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It shelves a photograph you paused over, a dish you ate three summers ago, a flavor combination you praised enthusiastically in public and then apparently continued discussing with yourself in private.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026
The conflict with Iran posed some challenges for the U.S. economy in the April-to-June quarter by significantly raising fuel costs and inflation that ate into households’ wages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Rats that ate high-fat and high-sugar diets early in life later showed weaker communication between the gut and the hippocampus.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
Yet the women who ate during a shorter window of time of eight to nine hours were found to perform better on tests measuring spatial planning and problem solving than the 12-hour group.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
I ate more than I had for days.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
"Like Ate Alex, I want to win at Wimbledon, WTA, and various tournaments around the world," Torrecampo said, referring to Eala with the Filipino word for elder sister.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
On the final page of “The Snakes That Ate Florida,” Mr. Frazier invokes another great scribbler, E.B.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
The researchers also detailed an episode of a YouTube user expressing disapproval of a video called “A Grandma Ate Cookie Dough for Lunch Every Week. This Is What Happened to Her Bones.”
From New York Times ● Sep. 20, 2022
"What We Ate in Covid Quarantine," I wrote on the inaugural page, adding a jaunty swoosh under the title.
From Salon ● Nov. 30, 2021
Ate that bread an’jam an’ build yourself up.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
It was sold in July 2023 to ATE Farms Limited.
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2024
The former farmhouse had been sold in July by Marston's to ATE Farms Limited.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2023
His wife, Carly, controls the company ATE Farms Limited, which bought the "wonky" Black Country landmark in July.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2023
La-Salle Elementary School, an ATE language academy, received 1,000 applicants for 450 slots.
From Time Magazine Archive
ATE in the afternoon Rodney strolled up the East River wharves.
From The Runaway The Adventures of Rodney Roverton by Unknown
Note that there is a system for naming some polyatomic ions; -ate and -ite are suffixes designating polyatomic ions containing more or fewer oxygen atoms.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019
Nodulose -us -ate: with small nodes or nodules: a surface sculpture of knots or links, connected by an undulating line.
From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.
Elongata -ate: drawn out; lengthened; much longer than wide.
From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.
A ternary acid with the termination -ic gives a salt with the name ending in -ate, while an acid with termination -ous gives a salt with the name ending in -ite.
From An Elementary Study of Chemistry by McPherson, William
Verb Suffixes -ate -fy -ise -ize = to make; render; perform an act.
From New Word-Analysis Or, School Etymology of English Derivative Words by Swinton, William
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
