1. n. & v.
--n.
1. a day of the month, esp. specified by a number.
2 a particular day or year, esp. when a given event occurred.
3 a statement (usu. giving the day, month, and year) in a document or inscription etc., of the time of composition or publication.
4 the period to which a work of art etc. belongs.
5 the time when an event happens or is to happen.
6 colloq. a an engagement or appointment, esp. with a person of the opposite sex. b US a person with whom one has a social engagement.
--v.
1. tr. mark with a date.
2 tr. a assign a date to (an object, event, etc.). b (foll. by to) assign to a particular time, period, etc.
3 intr. (often foll. by from, back to, etc.) have its origins at a particular time.
4 intr. be recognizable as from a past or particular period; become evidently out of date (a design that does not date).
5 tr. indicate or expose as being out of date (that hat really dates you).
6 colloq. a tr. make an arrangement with (a person) to meet socially. b intr. meet socially by agreement (they are now dating regularly).
Phrases and idioms:
date-line
1. the line from north to south partly along the meridian 180° from Greenwich, to the east of which the date is a day earlier than it is to the west.
2 a line at the head of a dispatch or special article in a newspaper showing the date and place of writing.
date-stamp n.
1. an adjustable rubber stamp etc. used to record a date.
2 the impression made by this.
--v.tr. mark with a date-stamp. out of date ( attrib. out-of-date) old-fashioned, obsolete. to date until now. up to date ( attrib. up-to-date) meeting or according to the latest requirements, knowledge, or fashion; modern.
Etymology: ME f. OF f. med.L data, fem. past part. of dare give: from the L formula used in dating letters, data (epistola) (letter) given or delivered (at a particular time or place) 2. n.1 a dark oval single-stoned fruit.
2 (in full date-palm) the tall tree Phoenix dactylifera, native to W. Asia and N. Africa, bearing this fruit.
Etymology: ME f. OF f. L dactylus f. Gk daktulos finger, from the shape of its leaf