-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 ¹, 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; British 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

   Latinate

   palmate

   fortunate

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

   rusticate

   hyphenate

Ate

²

/ ˈɑːtɪ; ˈeɪtɪ /

noun

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

-ate

³

suffix forming nouns

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

   electorate

   episcopate

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

C16: via Latin from Greek atē a rash impulse

Origin of -ate³

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

Example Sentences

Where most previous studies of nutrition during pregnancy relied on a few days of food diaries, or on simply asking people what they remembered eating, the Stevens team asked pregnant people to take before-and-after photos of everything they ate over two 14-day periods.

From Science Daily

"By looking at a longer time period, and using photos to track diet and nutrition, we're able to get a much richer and more precise picture of what people actually ate."

From Science Daily

When pregnant people ate later in the day, the data shows, they were likely to consume significantly more total calories -- potentially an important finding as researchers explore connections between eating behaviors and health problems such as gestational diabetes.

From Science Daily

As a result, students ate far more of the meals on offer, reducing food overproduction at the school by 20%.

From Salon

It's not known whether he took a dose of it when he purportedly had a parasitic worm in his brain "which ate a portion of it and then died."

From Salon

Related Words

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