date

¹

[ deyt ]

noun

1. a particular month, day, and year at which some event happened or will happen:

   July 4, 1776 was the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

2. the day of the month:

   Is today's date the 7th or the 8th?

3. an inscription on a writing, coin, etc., that shows the time, or time and place, of writing, casting, delivery, etc.:

   a letter bearing the date January 16.

4. the time or period to which any event or thing belongs; period in general:

   Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date.

5. the time during which anything lasts; duration:

   The pity is that childhood has so short a date.

6. an appointment for a particular time:

   They have a date with their accountant at ten o'clock.

7. a social appointment or engagement arranged beforehand with another person, especially when a romantic relationship exists or may develop:

   to go out on a Saturday night date.

8. a person with whom one has such a social appointment or engagement:

   Can I bring a date to the party?

9. an engagement for an entertainer to perform.
10. dates, the birth and death dates, usually in years, of a person:

    Dante's dates are 1265 to 1321.

verb (used without object)

, dat·ed, dat·ing.

1. to have or bear a date:

   The letter dates from 1873.

2. to belong to a particular period; have its origin:

   That dress dates from the 19th century. The architecture dates as far back as 1830.

3. to reckon from some point in time:

   The custom dates from the days when women wore longer skirts.

4. to go out socially on dates:

   She dated a lot during high school.

verb (used with object)

, dat·ed, dat·ing.

1. to mark or furnish with a date:

   Please date the check as of today.

2. to ascertain or fix the period or point in time of; assign a period or point in time to:

   The archaeologist dated the ruins as belonging to the early Minoan period.

3. to show the age of; show to be old-fashioned.
4. to make a date with; go out on dates with:

   He's been dating his best friend's sister.

date

²

[ deyt ]

noun

1. the oblong, fleshy fruit of the date palm, a staple food in northern Africa, Arabia, etc., and an important export.

date

¹

/ deɪt /

noun

1. the fruit of the date palm, having sweet edible flesh and a single large woody seed
2. See date palm
   short for date palm

date

²

/ deɪt /

noun

1. a specified day of the month

   today's date is October 27

2. the particular day or year of an event

   the date of the Norman Conquest was 1066

3. plural the years of a person's birth and death or of the beginning and end of an event or period
4. an inscription on a coin, letter, etc, stating when it was made or written
5. 1. an appointment for a particular time, esp with a person to whom one is sexually or romantically attached

      she has a dinner date

   2. the person with whom the appointment is made
6. the present moment; now (esp in the phrases to date, up to date )

verb

1. tr to mark (a letter, coin, etc) with the day, month, or year
2. tr to assign a date of occurrence or creation to
3. intr; foll by from or back to to have originated (at a specified time)

   his decline dates from last summer

4. tr to reveal the age of

   that dress dates her

5. to make or become old-fashioned

   some good films hardly date at all

6. informal.
   1. to be a boyfriend or girlfriend of (someone of the opposite sex)
   2. to accompany (a member of the opposite sex) on a date

Usage

See year

Derived Forms

• ˈdatable, adjective
• ˈdateless, adjective

Other Words From

• dat·a·ble date·a·ble adjective
• dat·a·ble·ness date·a·ble·ness noun
• dat·er noun
• un·dat·a·ble adjective
• un·date·a·ble adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of date¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English noun from Middle French, from Late Latin data, noun use of data (feminine of datus, past participle of dare “to give”), from the phrase data (Romae) “written, given (at Rome)”; Middle English verb daten “to sign or date a document,” derivative of the noun

Origin of date²

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French dade, date, from Medieval Latin datil(l)us, from Latin dactylus, from Greek dáktylos, from a Semitic language (and unrelated to Greek dáktylos “finger; dactyl )

Word History and Origins

Origin of date¹

C13: from Old French, from Latin, from Greek daktulos finger

Origin of date²

C14: from Old French, from Latin dare to give, as in the phrase epistula data Romae letter handed over at Rome

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. to date, up to the present time; until now:

   This is his best book to date.

2. up to date. up-to-date.

More idioms and phrases containing date

In addition to the idiom beginning with date also see bring up to date ; double date ; make a date ; out of date ; to date ; up to date .

Example Sentences

If we’re talking about something or we’re watching a show … I’ll use conversations that we’re having as fodder for date conversations.

From Washington Post

You can add it to your listing or your clients’ profiles by adding an opening date under the “Info” option in the admin menu.

From Search Engine Land

They had met one year earlier, on Valentine’s Day 2019, on a date where everything seemed to go right.

From Washington Post

So if your business has been around for some time, adding the open date can help encourage a searcher to click on your listing and potentially call or visit your location, hopefully ultimately leading to a sale.

From Search Engine Land

Four of those have already been made up, and another two have rescheduled dates set.

From Washington Post

In my four years of college, I know exactly one woman who has asked a man out on a date.

From The Daily Beast

As I sign the forms to be admitted to have surgery the next day, I ask my husband the date.

From The Daily Beast

The trickiest items having been placed in the “freezer” to be addressed at a later date.

From The Daily Beast

Just a month from that date, he now no longer believes that to be realistic, and will no longer estimate a timeline for the trial.

From The Daily Beast

When on August 7, 2013 Future finally did share a tentative date, he also made a significant change.

From The Daily Beast

Bessires was included because he would never win it at any later date, but his doglike devotion made him a priceless subordinate.

From Project Gutenberg

A native of Haarlem on Zandam, the date of her birth being unknown.

From Project Gutenberg

At the latter date all artists were obliged to vacate the Sorbonne ateliers to make room for some new department of instruction.

From Project Gutenberg

The text of the amendments designed to carry out these recommendations will be submitted by the Board at an early date.

From Project Gutenberg

Hitherto, I have not given the subject much consideration, but I turn over a new leaf from the date of this adventure.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• age
• day
• hour
• moment
• period
• stage
• term
• time
• year