date
date Lexical Profile
date Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A specific day of a month or year as specified by a number.
"Please write the current date at the top of the examination paper."
A social appointment or engagement, especially a romantic one, or the person with whom such an appointment is made.
"They went out for a nice Italian dinner on their first date."
The sweet, dark brown, fleshy fruit of the date palm, containing a single hard pit.
"She chopped a Medjool date and added it to her morning oatmeal for natural sweetness."
• verb
To establish or assign a specific time or chronological period to an event or object.
"The archaeologists were able to date the pottery fragments to the third century BCE."
To go on regular social engagements with a romantic partner, or to be in a romantic relationship.
"The couple had been dating for three years before they finally decided to get married."
To reveal the age of something, or to become old-fashioned and outmoded.
"The heavy reliance on early computer graphics severely dates the movie."
• Rhymes for date
Word Origin & Etymology
The calendar meaning derives from Middle English via Old French 'date', from Latin 'data' (feminine past participle of 'dare', to give), originally used in Roman letter formulas like 'data Romae' (given at Rome on a certain day). The fruit meaning comes from Old French 'date', via Latin 'dactylus' and Greek 'daktylos' (meaning 'finger'), referring to the fruit's oblong shape.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.