date
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A specific day, or a planned meeting between two people
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
daytIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈdeɪt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A specific day in time at which a transaction or event takes place, or is appointed to take place; a given point of time.
A meeting arranged in advance
“She asked how to avoid kissing at the end of a date.”
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.
A pre-arranged meeting.
One's companion for social activities or occasions, especially a romantic partner.
A romantic meeting or outing with a lover or potential lover, or the person so met.
verb
transitiveby extension
To have a steady relationship with; to be romantically involved with.
intransitivewith from
To have beginning; to begin; to be dated or reckoned.
transitive
To determine the age of something.
transitive
To note or fix the time of (an event); to give the date of.
Assign a date to; determine the (probable) date of
“Scientists often cannot date precisely archeological or prehistorical findings.”
Stamp with a date
“The package is dated November 24.”
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A specific day in time at which a transaction or event takes place, or is appointed to take place; a given point of time.
Used this way, date is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Meeting / prenoun
“She asked how to avoid kissing at the end of a date.”
Assignverb
“Scientists often cannot date precisely archeological or prehistorical findings.”
Stampverb
“The package is dated November 24.”
More ways to use date
- “She asked how to avoid kissing at the end of a date.”noun
- “The date of the election is set by law.”noun
- “He tried to memorizes all the dates for his history class.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Fruit bar containing chopped dates.
Bread containing chopped dates.
Belong to an earlier time.
An imaginary line on the surface of the earth following (approximately) the 180th meridian.
Mark with a date and place.
Bread containing chopped dates and nuts.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: specific day in time at which a transaction
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.