date

1
[ deyt ]
See synonyms for: datedateddating on Thesaurus.com
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?

  1. 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.

  2. the time or period to which any event or thing belongs; period in general: Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date.

  3. the time during which anything lasts; duration: The pity is that childhood has so short a date.

  4. an appointment for a particular time: They have a date with their accountant at ten o'clock.

  5. 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.

  6. a person with whom one has such a social appointment or engagement: Can I bring a date to the party?

  7. an engagement for an entertainer to perform.

  8. 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.

  1. to reckon from some point in time: The custom dates from the days when women wore longer skirts.

  2. 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.

  1. to show the age of; show to be old-fashioned.

  2. to make a date with; go out on dates with: He's been dating his best friend's sister.

Idioms about date

  1. to date, up to the present time; until now: This is his best book to date.

  2. up to date. See entry at up-to-date.

Origin of date

1
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

Other words from date

  • 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

Words Nearby date

Other definitions for date (2 of 2)

date2
[ deyt ]
noun

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

Origin of date

2
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)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use date in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for date (1 of 2)

date1

/ (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

  1. (plural) the years of a person's birth and death or of the beginning and end of an event or period

  2. an inscription on a coin, letter, etc, stating when it was made or written

    • an appointment for a particular time, esp with a person to whom one is sexually or romantically attached: she has a dinner date

    • the person with whom the appointment is made

  4. 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

  1. (intr; foll by from or back to) to have originated (at a specified time): his decline dates from last summer

  2. (tr) to reveal the age of: that dress dates her

  3. to make or become old-fashioned: some good films hardly date at all

  4. informal, mainly US and Canadian

    • to be a boyfriend or girlfriend of (someone of the opposite sex)

    • to accompany (a member of the opposite sex) on a date

Origin of date

1
C14: from Old French, from Latin dare to give, as in the phrase epistula data Romae letter handed over at Rome

date

See year

Derived forms of date

  • datable or dateable, adjective
  • dateless, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for date (2 of 2)

date2

/ (deɪt) /

noun

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

  2. short for date palm

Origin of date

2
C13: from Old French, from Latin, from Greek daktulos finger

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with date

date

In addition to the idiom beginning with date

  • date rape

also see

  • bring up to date
  • double date
  • make a date
  • out of date
  • to date
  • up to date

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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