What does "date" mean?
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.
Date
/deɪt/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: 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.
- Grammar: date is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: appointment, see, accompany, aeon.
- Useful contrasts: dump, inedible fruit, no date.
- Usage evidence: We will let you know the time and date of the meeting soon.
How to use "date"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "date" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "date" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "date" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "date" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "date" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "appointment" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "date", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 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.
"We made a nice cake from dates."
- 2 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."
- 3 sweet edible fruit of the date palm with a single long woody seed wordnet
- 4 The date palm.
"There were a few dates planted around the house."
- 5 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"
Show 13 more definitions
- 6 a meeting arranged in advance wordnet
- 7 The anus. Australia, New-Zealand
"The bullet took the middle finger of his right hand clean off […]. ‘He sure won't be sticking that finger up his date again,’ said Max."
- 8 A point in time.
"You may need that at a later date."
- 9 a participant in a date wordnet
- 10 An assigned end; a conclusion. rare
"But because he is but briefe, and these things of great consequence not to be kept obscure, I shall conceave it nothing above my duty either for the difficulty or the censure that may passe thereon, to communicate such thoughts as I also have had, and do offer them now in this generall labour of reformation, to the candid view both of Church and Magistrate; especially because I see it the hope of good men, that those irregular and unspirituall Courts have spun their utmost date in this Land; and some beter course must now be constituted."
- 11 the present wordnet
- 12 A given or assigned length of life; duration. obsolete
"Good luck prolonged hath thy date."
- 13 the specified day of the month wordnet
- 14 A pre-arranged meeting.
"I arranged a date with my Australian business partners."
- 15 a particular day specified as the time something happens wordnet
- 16 One's companion for social activities or occasions, especially a romantic partner.
"I brought Melinda to the wedding as my date."
- 17 the particular day, month, or year (usually according to the Gregorian calendar) that an event occurred wordnet
- 18 A romantic meeting or outing with a lover or potential lover, or the person so met.
"We really hit it off on the first date, so we decided to meet the week after."
Verb
- 1 To note the time or place of writing or executing; to express in an instrument the time of its execution. transitive
"to date a letter, a bond, a deed, or a charter"
- 2 assign a date to; determine the (probable) date of wordnet
- 3 To note or fix the time of (an event); to give the date of. transitive
"The writer dates the festival on June 21st, which is probably a mistake."
- 4 provide with a dateline; mark with a date wordnet
- 5 To determine the age of something. transitive
"to date the building of the pyramids"
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 stamp with a date wordnet
- 7 To take (someone) on a date, or a series of dates. transitive
- 8 go on a date with wordnet
- 9 To have a steady relationship with; to be romantically involved with. broadly, transitive
"Jessica Simpson reportedly went on a drinking binge after discovering ex-boyfriend John Mayer is dating Jennifer Aniston."
- 10 date regularly; have a steady relationship with wordnet
- 11 To have a steady relationship with each other; to be romantically involved with each other. broadly, reciprocal
"They met a couple of years ago, but have been dating for about five months."
- 12 To make or become old, especially in such a way as to fall out of fashion, become less appealing or attractive, etc. ambitransitive
"This show hasn't dated well."
- 13 To have beginning; to begin; to be dated or reckoned. intransitive
"The Batavian republic dates from the successes of the French arms."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
- 2 A ghost town in Perkins County, South Dakota, United States.
Example
"We will let you know the time and date of the meeting soon."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "date"?
Common synonyms include: appointment, see, accompany, aeon, age, ages.
How do you use "date" in a sentence?
We will let you know the time and date of the meeting soon.
How do you pronounce "date"?
Pronounced /deɪt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
From Middle English date, from Old French date, from Late Latin data, from Latin datus (“given”), past participle of dare (“to give”); from Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- (“to give”). Doublet of data.
Etymology 3
Two main origins: * Borrowed from Marathi दाते (dāte), from Sanskrit दाता (dātā), nominative singular of दातृ (dātṛ, “giver, donor”). * Borrowed from Japanese 伊達 (Date, “a city in Hokkaido Prefecture”), a habitational surname.
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