date
1 Americannoun
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a particular month, day, and year at which some event happened or will happen.
July 4, 1776 was the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
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the day of the month.
Is today's date the 7th or the 8th?
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an inscription on a writing, coin, etc., that shows the time, or time and place, of writing, casting, delivery, etc..
a letter bearing the date January 16.
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the time or period to which any event or thing belongs; period in general.
Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date.
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the time during which anything lasts; duration.
The pity is that childhood has so short a date.
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an appointment for a particular time.
They have a date with their accountant at ten o'clock.
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a social appointment or engagement arranged beforehand with another person, especially when a romantic relationship exists or may develop.
to go out on a Saturday night date.
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a person with whom one has such a social appointment or engagement.
Can I bring a date to the party?
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an engagement for an entertainer to perform.
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dates, the birth and death dates, usually in years, of a person.
Dante's dates are 1265 to 1321.
verb (used without object)
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to have or bear a date.
The letter dates from 1873.
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to belong to a particular period; have its origin.
That dress dates from the 19th century. The architecture dates as far back as 1830.
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to reckon from some point in time.
The custom dates from the days when women wore longer skirts.
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to go out socially on dates.
She dated a lot during high school.
verb (used with object)
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to mark or furnish with a date.
Please date the check as of today.
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to ascertain or fix the period or point in time of; assign a period or point in time to.
The archaeologist dated the ruins as belonging to the early Minoan period.
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to show the age of; show to be old-fashioned.
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to make a date with; go out on dates with.
He's been dating his best friend's sister.
idioms
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to date, up to the present time; until now.
This is his best book to date.
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up to date. see up-to-date.
noun
noun
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a specified day of the month
today's date is October 27
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the particular day or year of an event
the date of the Norman Conquest was 1066
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(plural) the years of a person's birth and death or of the beginning and end of an event or period
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an inscription on a coin, letter, etc, stating when it was made or written
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an appointment for a particular time, esp with a person to whom one is sexually or romantically attached
she has a dinner date
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the person with whom the appointment is made
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the present moment; now (esp in the phrases to date, up to date )
verb
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(tr) to mark (a letter, coin, etc) with the day, month, or year
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(tr) to assign a date of occurrence or creation to
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(intr; foll by from or back to) to have originated (at a specified time)
his decline dates from last summer
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(tr) to reveal the age of
that dress dates her
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to make or become old-fashioned
some good films hardly date at all
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informal
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to be a boyfriend or girlfriend of (someone of the opposite sex)
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to accompany (a member of the opposite sex) on a date
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noun
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the fruit of the date palm, having sweet edible flesh and a single large woody seed
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short for date palm
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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datablenessnoun
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dateablenessnoun
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daternoun
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datableadjective
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dateableadjective
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datelessadjective
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undatableadjective
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undateableadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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datesimple
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datessimple
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have datedperfect
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has datedperfect
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am datingprogressive
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are datingprogressive
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is datingprogressive
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have been datingperfect progressive
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has been datingperfect progressive
Past
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datedsimple
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had datedperfect
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was datingprogressive
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were datingprogressive
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had been datingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of date1
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English noun from Middle French, from Late Latin data, noun use of data (feminine of datus, past participle of dare “to give”), from the phrase data (Romae) “written, given (at Rome)”; Middle English verb daten “to sign or date a document,” derivative of the noun
Origin of date2
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French dade, date, from Medieval Latin datil(l)us, from Latin dactylus, from Greek dáktylos, from a Semitic language (and unrelated to Greek dáktylos “finger; dactyl )
Explanation
A date is a particular day of the month, and to date is to go out with someone. You might have the date of your first date with a special someone marked on your calendar. Awwwwwwww. Date comes from the Latin datus, "given," because in ancient Rome when people wrote letters or decrees, they'd say, "given ("data") May 1st" (for example). Date can mean a day of each year, like May 1st, or one historical day, like May 1st, 1873. You make a date to meet someone for dinner. You date your letter. If you make many appointments with one special lady, you're dating her. A date is also a fruit, from the date palm.
Vocabulary lists containing date
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Huawei’s efforts to work around such technology restrictions date to 2019.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Neither Downing Street nor the Ministry of Justice have set a date for when they expect the scheme to be implemented again, the paper adds.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
For the stocks in this table, that would mean buying the straddles expiring on Aug. 2, or the next nearest date if that expiration date not exist for a particular stock.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
When the camera detects a violation, it generates an evidence package, consisting of the date, time and location, as well as still images.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
He handed her the cup and focused on trying to rip the pit out of a new date.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
Below are the dates, price caps and qualifying items for states offering tax holidays in late July and August.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
The Sandringham Flower Show, which dates back to 1881, is run by a trust made up of a committee of volunteers and will return in 2027 and 2028.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Shimao dates to approximately 4200-3700 years before the present and is located in northern Shaanxi Province, China.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
Unlike standard commodity futures, perpetuals do not have expiration dates, settle in cash and can trade outside traditional market hours.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
If our mothers cared about history at all, they’d know that this street dates back to the colonial times they’re supposed to be learning about.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
Bechtel, 28 and Healy, 37 were first linked months after he split from Taylor Swift, whom he dated briefly in 2023.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
The modeling shows that the Eulalia breakup could plausibly explain the increase in lunar craters dated to roughly 800 million years ago.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 18, 2026
Ms. Salvant’s 2023 release, “Mélusine,” included songs that dated back to the 12th century, sung in four languages, and made prominent use of the theorbo, the plucked lute used for Baroque basso continuo accompaniment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
With dated production and too many songs that make a good first impression but fail to stick, “Steel Wheels” has gathered moss over the years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
From the written evidence of Newton’s own papers that can be dated, there is nothing about the Moon in the work on gravity he carried out in the plague years.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
Boseman and Ledward, an R&B artist who uses the stage name sahn, started dating in 2015 and quietly wed in 2020 before the actor’s death.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
However, Chelsea were handed a transfer ban in 2019 over breaches relating to youth recruitment and are currently serving restrictions on registering academy players following historical offences dating back to the Abramovich era.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
On ICYMI, host Kate Lindsay and Slate tech editor Tony Ho Tran break down the digital do’s and don’ts for couples, and argue that the thing that ruined dating might actually be making relationships better.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
“It’s social, it’s dating, it’s professional,” said Dempsey, who runs a networking group for women in the Miami area.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
I hated thinking about Jackie getting on that bus to Raleigh, going back to her happy life, painting her fingernails with Carol Lee, dating Scooter the paintball champion, maybe even going to beauty school.
From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.