-ate

¹

1. a suffix occurring in loanwords from Latin, its English distribution paralleling that of Latin. The form originated as a suffix added to a- stem verbs to form adjectives (separate ). The resulting form could also be used independently as a noun (advocate ) and came to be used as a stem on which a verb could be formed (separate; advocate; agitate ). In English the use as a verbal suffix has been extended to stems of non-Latin origin: calibrate; acierate .

-ate

²

1. a specialization of -ate, used to indicate a salt of an acid ending in -ic , added to a form of the stem of the element or group: nitrate; sulfate .

-ate

³

1. a suffix occurring originally in nouns borrowed from Latin, and in English coinages from Latin bases, that denote offices or functions (consulate; triumvirate; pontificate ), as well as institutions or collective bodies (electorate; senate ); sometimes extended to denote a person who exercises such a function (magistrate; potentate ), an associated place (consulate ), or a period of office or rule (protectorate ). Joined to stems of any origin, ate3 signifies the office, term of office, or territory of a ruler or official (caliphate; khanate; shogunate ).

ate

⁴

[eyt, et]

verb

1. simple past tense of eat.

Ate

⁵

[ey-tee, ah-tee]

noun

1. an ancient Greek goddess personifying the fatal blindness or recklessness that produces crime and the divine punishment that follows it.

ATE

⁶

1. equipment that makes a series of tests automatically.

-ate

¹

suffix

1. (forming adjectives) possessing; having the appearance or characteristics of

   fortunate

   palmate

   Latinate

2. (forming nouns) a chemical compound, esp a salt or ester of an acid

   carbonate

   stearate

3. (forming nouns) the product of a process

   condensate

4. forming verbs from nouns and adjectives

   hyphenate

   rusticate

-ate

²

suffix

1. denoting office, rank, or a group having a certain function

   episcopate

   electorate

Ate

³

/ ˈɑːtɪ, ˈeɪtɪ /

noun

1. Greek myth a goddess who makes men blind so that they will blunder into guilty acts

ate

⁴

/ eɪt, ɛt /

verb

1. the past tense of eat

Word History and Origins

Origin of -ate¹

< Latin -ātus (masculine), -āta (feminine), -ātum (neuter), equivalent to -ā- thematic vowel + -tus, -ta, -tum past participle suffix

Origin of -ate²

Probably originally in New Latin phrases, as plumbum acetātum salt produced by the action of acetic acid on lead

Origin of -ate³

< Latin -ātus (genitive -ātūs ), generalized from v. derivatives, as augurātus office of an augur ( augurā(re) to foretell by augury + -tus suffix of v. action), construed as derivative of augur augur ¹

Origin of -ate⁴

< Greek, special use of átē reckless impulse, ruin, akin to aáein to mislead, harm

Origin of -ate⁵

a(utomatic) t(est) e(quipment)

Word History and Origins

Origin of -ate¹

from Latin -ātus, past participial ending of verbs ending in -āre

Origin of -ate²

from Latin -ātus, suffix (fourth declension) of collective nouns

Origin of -ate³

C16: via Latin from Greek atē a rash impulse

Example Sentences

The first time Bob ate in my presence.

From Slate

At 13 she went away to boarding school, attending the elite Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, where she “ate and ate and ate,” then Yale.

From Los Angeles Times

She kept shelves full of journals which documented her day-to-day life and tracked all her dreams — never excluding the most mundane moments, from what she ate for lunch to taking her car to the mechanic.

From Los Angeles Times

To understand their eating habits, participants were asked on two separate days - about two weeks apart - to recall everything they ate and drank.

From BBC

Researchers, analysing data from more than 19,000 adults, found that those who confined their eating to less than eight hours a day faced a 135% higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease - issues with the heart and blood vessel - than people who ate over 12-14 hours.

From BBC

Related Words

• attack 
• bite 
• chew 
• devour 
• dine 
• feed 
• ingest 
• inhale 
• nibble 
• pick 
• swallow