predate
predate Lexical Profile
predate Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To exist or occur at a date earlier than something else.
"Archaeologists discovered stone tools that predate the earliest known settlements in the valley by several centuries."
To mark a document, contract, or check with a date earlier than the actual date on which it is written or executed.
"The auditor flagged the invoice because someone had attempted to predate the signature to the previous fiscal quarter."
To act as a predator toward or prey upon other organisms (used especially in biology and ecology).
"Introduced invasive mammals often predate native ground-nesting birds that lack natural defenses."
Word Nuance & Usage
'Predate' is a homograph representing two distinct verbs: the common verb meaning to precede in time (formed from 'pre-' + 'date') and a technical biological verb meaning to prey upon other organisms (a back-formation from 'predation').
• Rhymes for predate
Word Origin & Etymology
The chronological sense dates to the late 17th century, formed in English from the prefix 'pre-' ('before') and 'date' (from Medieval Latin 'data'). The zoological sense emerged in the 1920s as a back-formation from 'predation', from Latin 'praedari' ('to plunder').