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Showing results for "ate"
  • past tense form of eat.
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  • ate
    ate
    verb
    simple past tense of eat.
  • Ate
    Ate
    noun
    an ancient Greek goddess personifying the fatal blindness or recklessness that produces crime and the divine punishment that follows it.
  • ATE
    ATE
    equipment that makes a series of tests automatically.
  • -ate
    -ate
    a 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 .
Synonyms

ate

1 American  
[ayt, et] / eɪt, ɛt /

verb

  1. simple past tense of eat.


Ate 2 American  
[ay-tee, ah-tee] / ˈeɪ ti, ˈɑ ti /

noun

  1. an ancient Greek goddess personifying the fatal blindness or recklessness that produces crime and the divine punishment that follows it.


ATE 3 American  
  1. equipment that makes a series of tests automatically.


-ate 4 American  
  1. a 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 5 American  
  1. a specialization of -ate, used to indicate a salt of an acid ending in -ic , added to a form of the stem of the element or group: nitrate; sulfate .


-ate 6 American  
  1. a suffix occurring originally in nouns borrowed from Latin, and in English coinages from Latin bases, that denote offices or functions (consulate; triumvirate; pontificate ), as well as institutions or collective bodies (electorate; senate ); sometimes extended to denote a person who exercises such a function (magistrate; potentate ), an associated place (consulate ), or a period of office or rule (protectorate ). Joined to stems of any origin, ate3 signifies the office, term of office, or territory of a ruler or official (caliphate; khanate; shogunate ).


-ate 1 British  

suffix

  1. (forming adjectives) possessing; having the appearance or characteristics of

    fortunate

    palmate

    Latinate

  2. (forming nouns) a chemical compound, esp a salt or ester of an acid

    carbonate

    stearate

  3. (forming nouns) the product of a process

    condensate

  4. forming verbs from nouns and adjectives

    hyphenate

    rusticate

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

-ate 2 British  

suffix

  1. denoting office, rank, or a group having a certain function

    episcopate

    electorate

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Ate 3 British  
/ ˈɑːtɪ, ˈeɪtɪ /

noun

  1. Greek myth a goddess who makes men blind so that they will blunder into guilty acts

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

ate 4 British  
/ eɪt, ɛt /

verb

  1. the past tense of eat

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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:

I traveled, ate and drank, and I met kindred souls I felt I’d known for lifetimes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026

In a study lasting just eight weeks, adults with prediabetes who regularly ate both fruits experienced improvements in blood vessel function and blood pressure, without gaining weight or consuming more calories.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026

Inflation obviously ate into some of those gains.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 1, 2026

"Lots of people planted vegetable gardens. We ate whatever was available. Well, thank God, we're here now," the 29-year-old added.

From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2026

Now, in the clear, cold light, the Mountains ate up the sky.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

"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

And she cites your book, "Cinderella Ate My Daughter."

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2022

Ate that bread an’jam an’ build yourself up.

From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt

It was served to ATE Farms Limited, the company that owns the pub, as well as the company's director George Adam Taylor, and former director Carly Taylor who stepped down in December.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2024

A planning application made by ATE Farms to convert former quarry land near Lutterworth, Leicestershire, into a solar farm and residential lodges attracted some objections from locals.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2023

The BBC has attempted to contact new owners ATE Farms - run by a Carly Taylor - for comment over the loss of its asset.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2023

La-Salle Elementary School, an ATE language academy, received 1,000 applicants for 450 slots.

From Time Magazine Archive

So, begorra! there wor nothing left for me to do but to ATE thim!

From Condensed Novels: New Burlesques by Bret Harte

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

Elongata -ate: drawn out; lengthened; much longer than wide.

From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by John. B. Smith

An acid terminating in -ous forms a salt ending in -ite, and an oxyacid ending in -ic forms a salt ending in -ate.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 1 "Châtelet" to "Chicago" by Various

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 John. B. Smith

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 William McPherson

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