date

Pronunciation

• IPA ^(key): /deɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

Singular date

Plural dates

a calendar showing the date of May 1

dried dates

1. (countable) A date is a particular day in a month or year.

   "What's the date on Friday?" "Uh, the 17th, I think."

   Charles suggested they get together at a later date to sort it out.

   The last date for orders is 25 October 1991.

   Please write your birth date here.

2. (countable) A date is an agreement to meet on particular day at a particular time.

   Can we set a date for the next meeting? How about June 21st?

3. (countable) A date is a time when you go out with a romantic partner.

   I've got a date with Michael tonight. We're going to that new restaurant.

4. (countable) You date is the person you are meeting romantically.

   Who's your date for the dance?

5. If you say that something is true to date, you mean in the past until the present.

   To date, we've had no problems with the new computers.

6. (countable) A date is a sweet fruit that grows on date palm trees and is often dried.

Verb

Plain form date

Third-person singular dates

Past tense dated

Past participle dated

Present participle dating

1. (transitive) If you date something, you write the date on it.

   You need to date this form at the top, here.

   The letter was dated Jan 8, 1969.

2. (transitive) If you date something, you find out how old it is, especially something very old.

   We have not been successful in dating the painting, though we believe it is from the 17th century.

   Scientists have dated it to about 2 million years ago.

3. (intransitive) If something dates, it goes out of style and looks old fashioned.

   Unfortunately, this jacket has dated rather more quickly than I had hoped.

4. (intransitive) If something dates from a particular time, it first existed at that time.

   The earliest electronic computers date from the mid-20th century (around 1940–1945).

5. (transitive) If you date someone, you have a romantic relationship with them.

   They dated for almost a year in high school.

Related words

• dated
• undated
• datable