date
dayt
Date (noun) means a specific point in time, usually given as a day, month, and year. Example: “What's the date of the meeting?”
noun
1
A specific point in time, usually given as a day, month, and year.
"What's the date of the meeting?"
"Please write today's date at the top of the form."
"Please check the date on the milk before you drink it."
2
A planned romantic meeting with someone, or the person met.
"They went on their first date to a small Italian restaurant."
"He's bringing his date to the wedding."
"He nervously asked her out on a date for Friday evening."
3
The sweet, oblong fruit of the date palm.
"She added chopped dates to the cake batter."
"I like to snack on dates and almonds in the afternoon."
"Stuffed dates were served after the main course."
verb
1
To be in a romantic relationship with someone.
"They've been dating for almost a year."
"My sister has been dating a teacher from her office."
"Are you still dating that boy from your class?"
2
To determine the age or time of origin of something.
"Scientists dated the fossil to around 60 million years old."
"Experts can date the old wooden chest by its style."
"Tree rings help researchers date ancient buildings accurately."
How to use date
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishMost often either a point on the calendar, a romantic outing (or the person you go with), or the sweet fruit from a date palm.
Common mistake
The calendar/appointment sense and the fruit sense look identical but come from completely unrelated word histories — pure coincidence, not a shared root.
Common pairings
set a date
go on a date
due date
date palm
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Word forms
- Plural
- dates
- Third person singular
- dates
- Past tense
- dated
Fill the gap
Can you complete this real example?
What's the _____ of the meeting?
Etymology
The calendar sense comes from Latin data, "given," from the Roman custom of writing a letter's place and time as "given at..." The fruit sense is unrelated, coming via Old French from Greek daktulos ("finger"), because a date resembles a finger.
Synonyms
View more →
day
calendar day
point in time
appointment
engagement
see
go out [with]
go with
go together
hang together
have a thing
step out
Related words
Rhymes for date
See all rhymes for date →Frequently asked questions
What does “date” mean?
The word “date” means a specific point in time, usually given as a day, month, and year. In plain terms, most often either a point on the calendar, a romantic outing (or the person you go with), or the sweet fruit from a date palm.
How do you pronounce “date”?
“Date” is pronounced dayt (/deɪt/ in IPA).
How do you use “date” in a sentence?
Here is “date” used in a sentence: “What's the date of the meeting?”
What is another word for “date”?
Words with a similar meaning to “date” include go out [with], go with, go together, hang together, have a thing and see.
What part of speech is “date”?
Depending on how it is used, “date” can be a noun and a verb.
Where does the word “date” come from?
The word “date” comes from Latin.
Is “date” a common word?
“Date” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.
How many meanings does “date” have?
“Date” has 5 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a specific point in time, usually given as a day, month, and year.
What is the difference between a date and a day?
A date is a specific point on the calendar, identified by day, month, and year, such as 4 July 2026. A day is either a 24-hour period or one of the seven named weekdays, like Monday. Every date falls on a day, but a day alone does not pinpoint a unique moment in the calendar.
How do you write a date correctly?
It depends on the convention. British style is day-month-year, as in 10 July 2026, while American style is month-day-year, as in July 10, 2026. The international ISO standard writes year-month-day, such as 2026-07-10, which sorts cleanly and avoids confusion between the day and month numbers.
What are the different date formats?
The three main formats are day-month-year, used across the UK and much of the world; month-day-year, standard in the United States; and year-month-day, the ISO 8601 standard used in computing. Formats may separate the parts with slashes, dashes, or fully written-out month names, depending on the setting and audience.
What is an example of a date?
"25 December 2025" is a date: it names a single day, its month, and its year, so it identifies one exact point on the calendar. A date can be written in full or in numbers, such as 25/12/2025, and often marks an event, a deadline, or an anniversary.
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