noun

date

dayt

noun

A specific point in time, usually given as a day, month, and year.

"What's the date of the meeting?"

"Please write today's date at the top of the form."

A planned romantic meeting with someone, or the person met.

"They went on their first date to a small Italian restaurant."

"He's bringing his date to the wedding."

The sweet, oblong fruit of the date palm.

"She added chopped dates to the cake batter."

verb

To be in a romantic relationship with someone.

"They've been dating for almost a year."

To determine the age or time of origin of something.

"Scientists dated the fossil to around 60 million years old."

How to Use Date

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishMost often either a point on the calendar, a romantic outing (or the person you go with), or the sweet fruit from a date palm.

Common mistake

The calendar/appointment sense and the fruit sense look identical but come from completely unrelated word histories — pure coincidence, not a shared root.

Common pairings

set a date go on a date due date date palm

Word Forms

dated past tense, dates plural, dates plural, Dates plural, dates singular

Study it as flashcards or scroll it in Flow — saved to your collection.

Test yourself on “date” A quick quiz — meaning, synonyms & usage →

Fill the Gap

Can you complete this real example?

What's the _____ of the meeting?

Etymology

The calendar sense comes from Latin data, "given," from the Roman custom of writing a letter's place and time as "given at..." The fruit sense is unrelated, coming via Old French from Greek daktulos ("finger"), because a date resembles a finger.

Synonyms

View more →

go out [with] go with go together hang together have a thing see step out

Related Words

see deem well lo sight discern escort

Rhymes for date

ate rate mate fate gate hate pate late Nate Kate cate tate

See all rhymes for date →

People Also Searched

go out [with] go with go together hang together have a thing see step out deem well lo sight discern