date
1 Americannoun
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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.
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the day of the month.
Is today's date the 7th or the 8th?
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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.
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the time or period to which any event or thing belongs; period in general.
Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date.
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the time during which anything lasts; duration.
The pity is that childhood has so short a date.
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an appointment for a particular time.
They have a date with their accountant at ten o'clock.
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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.
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a person with whom one has such a social appointment or engagement.
Can I bring a date to the party?
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an engagement for an entertainer to perform.
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dates, the birth and death dates, usually in years, of a person.
Dante's dates are 1265 to 1321.
verb (used without object)
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dates,
present (3rd person singular)
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dated,
past participle, past
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dating
present participle
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to have or bear a date.
The letter dates from 1873.
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to belong to a particular period; have its origin.
That dress dates from the 19th century. The architecture dates as far back as 1830.
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to reckon from some point in time.
The custom dates from the days when women wore longer skirts.
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to go out socially on dates.
She dated a lot during high school.
verb (used with object)
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dates,
present (3rd person singular)
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dated,
past participle, past
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dating
present participle
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to mark or furnish with a date.
Please date the check as of today.
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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.
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to show the age of; show to be old-fashioned.
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to make a date with; go out on dates with.
He's been dating his best friend's sister.
idioms
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to date, up to the present time; until now.
This is his best book to date.
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up to date. see up-to-date.
noun
noun
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a specified day of the month
today's date is October 27
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the particular day or year of an event
the date of the Norman Conquest was 1066
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(plural) the years of a person's birth and death or of the beginning and end of an event or period
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an inscription on a coin, letter, etc, stating when it was made or written
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an appointment for a particular time, esp with a person to whom one is sexually or romantically attached
she has a dinner date
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the person with whom the appointment is made
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the present moment; now (esp in the phrases to date, up to date )
verb
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(tr) to mark (a letter, coin, etc) with the day, month, or year
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(tr) to assign a date of occurrence or creation to
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(intr; foll by from or back to) to have originated (at a specified time)
his decline dates from last summer
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(tr) to reveal the age of
that dress dates her
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to make or become old-fashioned
some good films hardly date at all
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informal
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to be a boyfriend or girlfriend of (someone of the opposite sex)
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to accompany (a member of the opposite sex) on a date
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noun
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the fruit of the date palm, having sweet edible flesh and a single large woody seed
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short for date palm
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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datablenessnoun
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dateablenessnoun
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daternoun
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datableadjective
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dateableadjective
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datelessadjective
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undatableadjective
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undateableadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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datesimple
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datessimple
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have datedperfect
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has datedperfect
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am datingprogressive
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are datingprogressive
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is datingprogressive
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have been datingperfect progressive
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has been datingperfect progressive
Past
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datedsimple
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had datedperfect
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was datingprogressive
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were datingprogressive
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had been datingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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 )
Explanation
A date is a particular day of the month, and to date is to go out with someone. You might have the date of your first date with a special someone marked on your calendar. Awwwwwwww. Date comes from the Latin datus, "given," because in ancient Rome when people wrote letters or decrees, they'd say, "given ("data") May 1st" (for example). Date can mean a day of each year, like May 1st, or one historical day, like May 1st, 1873. You make a date to meet someone for dinner. You date your letter. If you make many appointments with one special lady, you're dating her. A date is also a fruit, from the date palm.
Vocabulary lists containing date
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:
They did, however, admit their soldiers had been at the Mall of Africa on the date in question, but said they had been there for a training exercise.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
The focus has turned firmly towards the future of the non-nuclear principles, which date to 1967.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
English Heritage, which runs the castle, said the storehouse was believed to date from between 1489 and 1540.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
His next hearing date was set for October.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Ambient splashing and conversation from the lake made the perfect soundtrack to what I’d always imagined to be the best first date ever.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
The FCC ownership cap dates to the bunny-ears era when there was little competition in the airwaves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
And part of the fun is meeting locals with similar interests and practicing speaking another language, whether that means going on dates or just making new friends.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026
Cheryl, another parent, said she found the dates of the drop-in sessions inconvenient, but she agreed that it could make things easier in September.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
This is to say that Monday might well be remembered as one of those significant dates in Angels history.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
I have good memories of laughing and stuffing our faces with too many sweet dates.
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
A roadmap released by the Board of Peace and dated Thursday called for Israel to complete commitments to cease military operations in Gaza "without delay".
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
According to Trujillo, Quintero said he’d once dated Franco’s daughter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
With their dated decor, hotel-like hallways, overhead ceiling tiles and abandoned office spaces, the Backrooms resemble the overlooked non-places of modern life – spaces many people recognize but rarely notice.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
Another letter dated a number of weeks later adds: "I always said I was a genius, but nobody listened."
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
She was stuck with whatever was on her dad’s iPod, which shuffled between slightly dated and extremely ancient.
From "The Parker Inheritance" by Varian Johnson
There is one final bit of irony: Cornell’s longtime unofficial mascot is Touchdown the Big Red Bear, a tradition dating to 1915, when the football team once adopted a live black bear.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
Though the song may have been a joke about the state of modern dating, it rings true looking at the run of tabloid press on celebrities dating dealmakers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Chelsea have been stockpiling players for more than a decade, dating back to former owner Roman Abramovich's reign.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
Another one of my rules for dating was: “If you can’t lift me, you can’t date me.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
They even confiscated letters that William had written, some dating back to the Riverbank years.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
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.
