In chemistry it is used to denote the salts formed from those acids whose names end -ic (excepting binary or halogen acids); as, sulphate from sulphuric acid, nitrate from nitric acid, etc. It is also used in the case of certain basic salts.
-ATE
Meaning of -ATE in English
Webster's Revised Unabridged English Dictionary. Пересмотренный полный словарь английского языка Webster. 2012