Oblate
adj, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A person dedicated to a life of religion or monasticism, especially a member of an order without religious vows or a lay member of a religious community.
- 2 a lay person dedicated to religious work or the religious life wordnet
- 3 A child given up by its parents into the keeping or dedication of a religious order or house.
"2007, The Venerable Bede started as an oblate at St Paul's, Jarrow, but by the time of his death in 735 was surely the most learned man in Europe. — Tom Shippey, ‘I Lerne Song’, London Review of Books 29:4, p. 19"
- 1 To offer as either a gift or an oblation. rare
- 1 Designating a person who is an oblate, of or belonging to an order of oblates. capitalized, not-comparable
"an Oblate Father"
- 2 Flattened or depressed at the poles.
"The Earth is an oblate spheroid."
- 1 having the equatorial diameter greater than the polar diameter; being flattened at the poles wordnet
Synonyms
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More examples"The Earth is an oblate spheroid."
Etymology
From French oblat and its source, Ecclesiastical Latin oblātus (“person dedicated to religious life”), nominalization of oblātus, perfect passive participle of offerō (“to offer”); see -ate (noun-forming suffix).
From Late Latin oblātus, from Latin ob (“in front of, before”) + lātus (“broad, wide”), (modeled after prōlātus (“extended, lengthened”)).
Borrowed from Latin oblātus, perfect passive participle of offerō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Doublet of offer.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.