ate

[ eyt; British et ]
See synonyms for ate on Thesaurus.com
verb
  1. simple past tense of eat.

Words that may be confused with ate

Words Nearby ate

Other definitions for Ate (2 of 6)

Ate
[ 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.

Origin of Ate

2
<Greek, special use of átē reckless impulse, ruin, akin to aáein to mislead, harm

Other definitions for ATE (3 of 6)

ATE

  1. equipment that makes a series of tests automatically.

Origin of ATE

3
a(utomatic)t(est)e(quipment)

Other definitions for -ate (4 of 6)

-ate1

  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.

Origin of -ate

4
<Latin -ātus (masculine), -āta (feminine), -ātum (neuter), equivalent to -ā- thematic vowel + -tus, -ta, -tum past participle suffix

Other definitions for -ate (5 of 6)

-ate2

  1. a specialization of -ate1, 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.

Origin of -ate

5
Probably originally in New Latin phrases, as plumbum acetātum salt produced by the action of acetic acid on lead

Other definitions for -ate (6 of 6)

-ate3

  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).

Origin of -ate

6
<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 auguraugur1

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use ate in a sentence

  • He ate as many as he wanted and then, as he always felt sleepy after he had eaten, he thought he would lie down and have a nap.

    Squinty the Comical Pig | Richard Barnum
  • And in the midst of his speculations, overpowered by fatigue, he fell asleep, and ate his breakfast next morning very happily.

    Checkmate | Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
  • At noon we camped, and cooked a bite of dinner while the horses grazed; ate it, and went on again.

    Raw Gold | Bertrand W. Sinclair
  • When Yung Pak ate his meals, he sat upon a rug on the floor with his father and such male guests as might be in the house.

    Our Little Korean Cousin | H. Lee M. Pike
  • They stood outside the window and the cook passed them their coffee and a roll, which they drank and ate from the window-sill.

British Dictionary definitions for ate (1 of 4)

ate

/ (ɛt, eɪt) /


verb
  1. the past tense of eat

British Dictionary definitions for Ate (2 of 4)

Ate

/ (ˈeɪtɪ, ˈɑːtɪ) /


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

Origin of Ate

2
C16: via Latin from Greek atē a rash impulse

British Dictionary definitions for -ate (3 of 4)

-ate1

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

  1. (forming nouns) the product of a process: condensate

  2. forming verbs from nouns and adjectives: hyphenate; rusticate

Origin of -ate

3
from Latin -ātus, past participial ending of verbs ending in -āre

British Dictionary definitions for -ate (4 of 4)

-ate2

suffix forming nouns
  1. denoting office, rank, or a group having a certain function: episcopate; electorate

Origin of -ate

4
from Latin -ātus, suffix (fourth declension) of collective nouns

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for -ate

-ate

  1. A suffix used to form the name of a salt or ester of an acid whose name ends in -ic, such as acetate, a salt or ester of acetic acid. Such salts or esters have one oxygen atom more than corresponding salts or esters with names ending in -ite. For example, a sulfate is a salt of sulfuric acid and contains the group SO4, while a sulfite contains SO3. Compare -ite.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.