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Added 8 October 2026

date

/deɪt/ noun

In Latin: palmula Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about date at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

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. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
We made a nice cake from dates.
The date palm.
There were a few dates planted around the house.
The anus.

noun

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.
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
A point in time.
You may need that at a later date.

verb

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
To note or fix the time of (an event); to give the date of.
To determine the age of something.
to date the building of the pyramids

Origin

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. Displaced native Old English fingeræppel, literally "finger-apple".

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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