date - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Dates (fruit)

A date palm

From Middle English date, from Old French date, datil, datille, from Latin dactylus (likely via Old Provençal datil), from Ancient Greek δάκτυλος (dáktulos, “finger”) (from the resemblance of the date to a human finger), probably a folk-etymological alteration of a word from a Semitic source such as Arabic دَقَل (daqal, “variety of date palm”) or Hebrew דֶּקֶל (deqel, “date palm”). Doublet of dactyl and dactylus.

date (plural dates)

  1. The fruit of the date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, somewhat in the shape of an olive, containing a soft, sweet pulp and enclosing a hard kernel. [from 14th c.]
    We made a nice cake from dates.
  2. The date palm. [from 14th c.]
    There were a few dates planted around the house.
  3. (Australia, New Zealand) The anus. [from 20th c.]
    • 1996, Peter Doyle, Get Rich Quick:
      The bullet took the middle finger of his right hand clean off […] . ‘He sure won't be sticking that finger up his date again,’ said Max.
    • 2018, Melissa Lucashenko, Too Much Lip, University of Queensland Press, published 2023, page 88:
      Black Superman could kiss his date, the little faggot.

fruit of the date palm

From Middle English date, from Old French date, from Late Latin data, from Latin datus (“given”), past participle of dare (“to give”); from Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- (“to give”). Doublet of data.

Date (calendar)

date (plural dates)

  1. The addition to a writing, inscription, coin, etc., which specifies the time (especially the day, month, and year) when the writing or inscription was given, executed, or made.
    the date of a letter, of a will, of a deed, of a coin, etc.
    US date : 05/24/08 = Tuesday, May 24th, 2008. UK date : 24/05/08 = Tuesday 24th May 2008.
    • 1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number):
      And bonds without a date, they say, are void.
  2. A specific day in time at which a transaction or event takes place, or is appointed to take place; a given point of time.
    the date for pleading
    The start date for the festival is September 2.
    • 1844, Mark Akenside, The Pleasures of the Imagination, Book II:
      He at once, Down the long series of eventful time, So fix'd the dates of being, so disposed To every living soul of every kind The field of motion, and the hour of rest.
      Do you know the date of the wedding?
      We had to change the dates of the festival because of the flooding.
  3. A point in time.
    You may need that at a later date.
  4. (rare) An assigned end; a conclusion.
    • 1643, John Milton, Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce:
      But because he is but briefe, and these things of great consequence not to be kept obscure, I shall conceave it nothing above my duty either for the difficulty or the censure that may passe thereon, to communicate such thoughts as I also have had, and do offer them now in this generall labour of reformation, to the candid view both of Church and Magistrate; especially because I see it the hope of good men, that those irregular and unspirituall Courts have spun their utmost date in this Land; and some beter course must now be constituted.
    • 1714, Alexander Pope, “The Rape of the Lock”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC:
      What Time would spare, from Steel receives its date.
  5. (obsolete) A given or assigned length of life; duration.
    • 1611-15, George Chapman (translator), Homer (author), The Odysseys of Homer, Volume 1, Book IV,[1] lines 282–5,
      As now Saturnius, through his life's whole date,
      Hath Nestor's bliss raised to as steep a state,
      Both in his age to keep in peace his house,
      And to have children wise and valorous.
  6. A pre-arranged meeting.
    I arranged a date with my Australian business partners.
    • 1903, Guy Wetmore Carryl, The Lieutenant-Governor, Houghton, Mifflin and Company, page 121:
      "Why, Mr. Nisbet! I thought you were in New York."
      "I had a telegram this morning, calling the date off,"
  7. One's companion for social activities or occasions, especially a romantic partner.
    I brought Melinda to the wedding as my date.
  8. A romantic meeting or outing with a lover or potential lover, or the person so met.
    We really hit it off on the first date, so we decided to meet the week after.
    The cinema is a popular place to take someone on a date.

that which specifies the time of writing, inscription etc.

point of time at which a transaction or event takes place

point in time

assigned end; conclusion

meeting with a lover or potential lover; a person so met

date (third-person singular simple present dates, present participle dating, simple past and past participle dated)

  1. (transitive) To note the time or place of writing or executing; to express in an instrument the time of its execution.
    to date a letter, a bond, a deed, or a charter
    • 1699, Joseph Addison, Letter to Rt. Hon. Charles Montagu, Esq., Blois, France; republished in Lucy Aikin, chapter 3, in The Life of Joseph Addison, volume 1, Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1843, page 79:
      You will be surprised, I don't question, to find among your correspondencies in foreign parts, a letter dated from Blois.
    • 1796 January 1, William Cobbett, A New Year's Gift to the Democrats, footnote; republished in Porcupine's Works, volume 2, London: For Cobbett and Morgan, 1801, page 430:
      I keep to the very words of the letter; but that, by "this State," is meant the State of Pennsylvania, cannot be doubted, especially when we see that the letter is dated at Philadelphia.
  2. (transitive) To note or fix the time of (an event); to give the date of.
    • 1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 10, page 202:
      The writer dates the festival on June 21st, which is probably a mistake.
  3. (transitive) To determine the age of something.
    to date the building of the pyramids
  4. (transitive) To take (someone) on a date, or a series of dates.
  5. (transitive, by extension) To have a steady relationship with; to be romantically involved with.
    Synonyms: go out, see; see also Thesaurus:date
    • 2008 May 15, “Jessica Simpson upset John Mayer dating Jennifer Aniston”, in NEWS.com.au:
      Jessica Simpson reportedly went on a drinking binge after discovering ex-boyfriend John Mayer is dating Jennifer Aniston.
  6. (reciprocal, by extension) To have a steady relationship with each other; to be romantically involved with each other.
    Synonyms: go out, see; see also Thesaurus:date
    They met a couple of years ago, but have been dating for about five months.
  7. (ambitransitive) To make or become old, especially in such a way as to fall out of fashion, become less appealing or attractive, etc.
    Synonyms: age, elden, obsolesce; see also Thesaurus:to age
    This show hasn't dated well.
    The comedian dated himself by making quips about bands from the 1960s.
    • 1971 April 30, “Research by Experiment”, in Nature, volume 230, number 5296, →DOI, page 603:
      In these days of decimalization and metrication it is a pity that SI units were not used as this will date a very useful little book prematurely.
  8. (intransitive, with from) To have beginning; to begin; to be dated or reckoned.
    • 1826, Edward Everett, The Claims of Citizens of the United States of America on the Governments of Naples, Holland, and France:
      The Batavian republic dates from the successes of the French arms.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
      He stood transfixed before the unaccustomed view of London at night time, a vast panorama which reminded him […] of some wood engravings far off and magical, in a printshop in his childhood. They dated from the previous century and were coarsely printed on tinted paper, with tinsel outlining the design.
    • 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:
      From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.

to determine the age of something

to take (someone) on a series of dates

to have a steady relationship with; to be romantically involved with

to become old

to begin

date

  1. alternative form of dzatse

From English date.

date c (singular definite daten, plural indefinite dates)

  1. a date (meeting with a lover or potential lover)
    Synonyms: rendezvous, stævnemøde

date (imperative **date, infinitive at date, present tense dater, past tense datede, perfect tense har datet)

  1. to date (someone)

Borrowed from English date.

date m (plural dates, no diminutive)

  1. a date (romantic outing)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

date

  1. inflection of daten:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
    3. imperative
    4. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive

Inherited from Old French date, a borrowing from Late Latin data, from the feminine of Latin datus.

date f (plural dates)

  1. date (point in time)

date

  1. inflection of dater:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Borrowed from English date.

date f (plural dates)

  1. (slang, anglicism) date (romantic meeting)

date m (plural dates)

  1. (slang, anglicism) date (person you go on a romantic meeting with)

date

  1. past participle of dar

date f

  1. plural of data

date

  1. inflection of dare:
    1. second-person plural present indicative
    2. second-person plural imperative

date

  1. feminine plural of dato

  2. ^ dare in Bruno Migliorini et al., Dizionario d'ortografia e di pronunzia, Rai Eri, 2025

  3. ^ prodigo in Bruno Migliorini et al., Dizionario d'ortografia e di pronunzia, Rai Eri, 2025

date

  1. second-person plural present active imperative of dō

date

  1. vocative masculine singular of datus

Borrowed from English date. Doublet of dato and datum.

date m (definite singular daten, indefinite plural dater, definite plural datene)

  1. a (romantic) date (pre-arranged meeting between two people)
    Synonyms: (romantic meeting) stevnemøte, (meeting) møte
  2. a person in relation to the other person on a date

date (present tense dater, past tense data or datet, past participle data or datet, imperative **date)

  1. (transitive, reciprocal) to date

Borrowed from English date. Doublet of dato and datum.

date m (definite singular daten, indefinite plural datar, definite plural datane)

  1. a (romantic) date (pre-arranged meeting between two people)
    Synonyms: (romantic meeting) stemnemøte, (meeting) møte
  2. a person in relation to the other person on a date

date (present tense datar, past tense data, past participle data, imperative **date)

  1. (transitive, reciprocal) to date

Borrowed from Late Latin data, from the feminine of Latin datus (“given”).

date oblique singular, f (oblique plural dates, nominative singular **date, nominative plural dates)

  1. date (point in time)

Borrowed from Old Provençal datil, from Latin dactylus.

date oblique singular, f (oblique plural dates, nominative singular **date, nominative plural dates)

  1. date (fruit)

Unadapted borrowing from English date. Doublet of dado and data.

date m (plural dates, diminutive datezinho)

  1. (Brazil, informal) date (romantic meeting)
    Synonym: encontro
    • 2015 December 18, “5 dicas para convidar aquele cara para um date…”, in Capricho‎[2], São Paulo: Abril, archived from the original on 2 December 2023:
      Antes de convidar o cara para um date, pense na situação que irá deixá-la mais confortável e evite, assim, gaguejar ou se atrapalhar toda na hora de fazer a proposta.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

date

  1. inflection of datar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

date

  1. inflection of dată:
    1. indefinite nominative/accusative/genitive/dative plural
    2. indefinite genitive/dative singular

date

  1. inflection of dar:
    1. second-person singular imperative combined with te
    2. second-person singular voseo imperative combined with te
  2. inflection of datar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Unadapted borrowing from English date

date c

  1. alternative form of dejt (“romantic date”)

date

  1. man