▪ I. date, n.1
(deɪt)
[a. OF. date (13th c. in Littré), now datte:—L. dactyl-us, a. Gr. δάκτυλος date, orig. finger. The OF. came through intermediate forms *dactele, dacte; cf. Pr. dáctil, dátil, Sp. dátil, OIt. dattilo (whence Ger. dattel, etc.), mod.It. dattero.]
1. a. The fruit of the date-palm (Phœnix dactylifera), an oblong drupe, growing in large clusters, with a single hard seed or stone, and sweet pulp; it forms an important article of food in Western Asia and Northern Africa, and is also dried and exported to other countries.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 380/115 A ȝeord of palm cam in is hond..þe ȝeord was ful of Dates. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 307 It is schape as it were þe stoon of a date. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) viii. 30 Palme treesse berand dates. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 19 A tree..which bringeth foorth dates lyke vnto the Palme tree. 1655 Moufet & Bennet Health's Improv. (1746) 297 Dates are usually put into stew'd Broths..and restorative Cullices. 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 136 Dates..serve for the Subsistence of more than an hundred Millions of Souls. 1870 Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. 183 The best dates come to us from Tunis, viâ Marseilles. |
b. slang. A foolish or comic person,
esp. soppy date. (Usu. an affectionate term of abuse.)
| 1914 W. L. George Making of Englishman iii. v. 302 These girls were used to the foreigner... I could fall into gallicisms now, and merely be called a ‘date’. 1923 J. Manchon Le Slang 101 You date! que tu es drôle! 1935 G. Ingram Cockney Cavalcade iv. 55 A kid like that ought not to talk about love at her age, the soppy little date. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren iii. 45 They say to him ‘You're a soppy date.’ |
2. The tree which bears dates, the date-palm (
Phœnix dactylifera).
wild date: an Indian species,
P. sylvestris.
| a 1400 Pistill of Susan 89 Þer weore growyng so grene Þe Date wiþ þe Damesene. ? c 1475 Sqr. lowe Degre 36 The boxe, the beche, and the larel-tre, The date, also the damysè. 1742 Collier Orient. Ecl. iv. 51 The date, with snowy blossoms crown'd! 1866 Treas. Bot. 878 P[hœnix] sylvestris, called the Wild Date, is supposed by some authors to be the parent of the cultivated date. |
† 3. Name of a variety of plum.
Obs.| 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 214 Plums, Imperial, Blue, White Dates. |
4. Comb., as
date-fruit,
date-grove,
date-stone,
date-tree;
date-bearer, a date-tree bearing fruit;
date-brandy, an intoxicating liquor from the fermented sap of the date-tree;
date-disease, a distemper also called
Aleppo boil;
date-fever = dengue (see
quot.);
date-fish U.S., a date-shell or piddock;
date-palm = sense 2;
date-plum, the fruit of species of
Diospyros (family Ebenaceæ), having a flavour like that of a plum; also the tree itself;
date-shell, a mollusc of the genus
Lithodomus, which burrows in stone or rock; so called from its shape;
cf. It. dattero,
dattilo ‘also a kinde of hard shell fish’ (Florio 1598);
date-sugar, sugar from the sap of the wild date-tree of India;
date-wine, wine made by fermenting the sap of the
Phœnix dactylifera and other species.
| 1880 L. Wallace Ben-Hur 225 The sky palely blue through the groinery of countless *date-bearers. |
| 1827 Maginn Red-nosed Lieut. in Forget-me-not, *Date-brandy was not to his taste. |
| 1875 tr. Ziemssen's Cycl. Med. II. 508 At Port Said..it [dengue] was epidemic every year at the season of the date-harvest, and thus acquired the name of *date-fever. |
| 1838 Knickerbocker XI. 446 Each separate raisin therein embedded, bearing much resemblance to the *date-fish in his rock. 1884 G. B. Goode Nat. Hist. Aquatic Anim. 707 Some cousins (Zirphæa crispata, Platydon cancellatus, etc.) are esteemed delicacies on the coast of California under the name of ‘Date-fish’. |
| 1884 J. Colborne Hicks Pasha 85 The river..is lined with stately *date-groves. |
| 1837 M. Donovan Dom. Econ. II. 347 The phœnix dactylifera or *date-palm. 1877 A. B. Edwards Up Nile iii. 57 A dense, wide-spreading forest of stately date-palms. |
| 1866 Treas. Bot. 411 The fruit of the Chinese *Date Plum, D[iospyros] Kaki, is as large as an ordinary apple..D. virginiana is the Virginian Date Plum or Persimon..The fruit..is an inch or more in diameter. 1882 Syd. Soc. Lex., Date plum, Indian, common name for the fruit of the Diospyros lotus. |
| 1851 Woodward Mollusca 266 The ‘*date-shell’ bores into corals, shells, and the hardest limetsone rocks. |
| 1696 Aubrey Misc. (1721) 60 Take 6 or 10 *Date-stones, dry..pulverize, and searce them. |
| 1840 Penny Cycl. XVIII. 104 *Date-sugar is not so much esteemed in India as that of the cane. |
| c 1400 Rom. Rose 1364 Fyges, and many a *date tree There wexen. 1535 Coverdale Song Sol. vii. 7 Thy stature is like a date tre. 1601 Holland Pliny xiii. iv. (R.), Date-trees love a light and sandie ground. |
| 1852 Grote Greece ii. lxix. IX. 47 The soldiers..procured plentiful supplies..of *date-wine. |
▪ II. date, n.2 (
deɪt)
Also 5–6
Sc. dait.
[a. F. date, OF. also datte (13th c. in Littré) = Pr., Sp., It. data fem.:—L. data fem. sing. (or neuter) of datus given. In ancient L., the date of a letter was expressed thus ‘Dabam Romæ prid. Kal. Apr.’, i.e. ‘I gave or delivered (this) at Rome on the 31st March’, for which the later formula was ‘Data Romæ, given at Rome’, etc. Hence data the first word of the formula was used as a term for the time and place therein stated. Cf. postscript, etc.] 1. The specification of the time (and often the place) of execution of a writing or inscription, affixed to it, usually at the end or the beginning.
| c 1430 Stans Puer 97 in Babees Bk. 33 In þis writynge, þouȝ þer be no date. 1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 10 A paire of Indentures..the date wherof is the xij{supt}{suph} daie of Aprill in the secound yere of your..reigne. 1630 Ld. Dorchester in Ellis Orig. Lett. ii. 267 III. 259, I have received your Letters of severall dates. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 320 ¶4 A long Letter bearing Date the fourth Instant. 1817 W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 883 The policy should be dated..The insertion of a date may tend to the discovery of fraud. 1837 Macaulay Bacon Ess. 1854 I. 353/2 A public letter which bears date just a month after the admission of Francis Bacon. 1837 Penny Cycl. VII. 330 A three-halfpenny piece..bearing the date of 1599. |
2. a. The precise time at which anything takes place or is to take place; the time denoted by the date of a document (in sense 1).
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 47 Þat tyme he died..Þe date was a þousand & sextene mo. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 269 In þe date of owre dryȝte, in a drye apprile, A þousande and thre hondreth tweis thretty and ten. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) iii. 9 Þe date when þis was writen..was ii{supm} ȝere before þe incarnacion of Criste. 1607 Shakes. Timon ii. i. 22 His days and times are past, And my reliances on his fracted dates Haue smit my credit. 1776 Trial of Nundocomar 74/2 When was it?—I only remember the sum: I do not remember the date. 1838 Lytton Leila ii. i, That within two weeks of this date thou bringest me..the keys of the city. 1893 Weekly Notes 68/2 Up to the date at which he received notice. |
b. More vaguely: The time at which something happened or is to happen; season, period.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 540 Þe date of þe daye þe lorde con knaw. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) iii. 18 The Date whan it was leyd in the Erthe. 1639 tr. Du Bosq's Compl. Woman ii. 32, I would faine know..of what date they would have their Habits. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. (1843) 17/1 From these..circumstances..the duke's ruin took its date. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 133 Not far remov'd the date, When commerce proudly flourish'd through the state. 1828 Carlyle Misc. I. 222 Up to this date Burns was happy. |
c. An appointment or engagement at a particular time,
freq. with a person of the opposite sex; a social activity engaged in by two persons of opposite sex.
Cf. blind date. Also
attrib. colloq.| [1876 G. Meredith Let. 9 Mar. (1970) I. 512 If you do come I shall celebrate the event and make a date of it.] 1885 E. W. Howe Mystery of Locks 187 If he'll make a date with me, I'll exchange stories with him. 1896 Ade Artie vii. 65, I s'pose the other boy's fillin' all my dates? 1900 ― Fables in Slang (1902) 138 Her Date Book had to be kept on the Double Entry System. 1903 J. M. Forman Journeys End iii. 42, I must be going on. I've a date to keep. 1906 ‘O. Henry’ Four Million 176, I made a date for dinner this evening. 1916 C. J. Dennis Songs of Sentimental Bloke 121 Date, an appointment. 1919 W. S. Maugham Moon & Sixpence xlvii. 203 He walked away as if he'd remembered he had a date. 1923 A. Christie Murder on Links xxvi. 285 It still worried me that Bella hadn't kept her date with me. 1923 L. J. Vance Baroque xv. 147 I'll give you a ring and make a date. 1928 M. Baring Comfortless Mem. iii, Mr. Donne can't come; he's got a date. 1937 W. S. Maugham Theatre xxii. 209 He's got a date. Is the young ruffian having an affair with this girl? 1938 Wodehouse Code of Woosters ix. 206 Before parting, we had made a date for half-past four next day on the same spot. 1949 M. Mead Male & Female xii. 263 The girl in the perfect date-dress. Ibid. xiv. 282 The dress that is described as ‘date bait’. 1958 Times 19 Feb. 3/3 The idea of The Broken Date, to give it its English title, is simple. |
d. A person of the opposite sex with whom one makes or has made an appointment or engagement.
colloq. (
orig. and chiefly
U.S.).
| 1925 Amer. Speech I. 102/2 My date was late last evening. 1943 Steinbeck Once there was War (1959) 125 On these terraces the soldiers come to sit about and to meet dates. 1951 J. D. Salinger Catcher in Rye vii. 60 Stradlater was in the back, with his date, and I was in the front, with mine. 1959 T. Griffith Waist-high Culture (1960) 32 In pairs we crowded into cars, our dates in our laps. |
e. Theatr. colloq. A theatrical engagement or performance; a place where a performance is given,
freq. as part of a tour. Also
transf.,
esp. (
U.S.) a recording session.
| 1904 G. V. Hobart Jim Hickey vi. 101 God, please, if Danny is booked in Heaven won't You cancel his dates for a while and let him play here with me. 1933 P. Godfrey Back-Stage vi. 75 He then discusses the best provincial ‘dates’ to play before coming to London. Ibid. 115 He can book a series of touring dates with unsuccessful theatres. Ibid. xvi. 205 Smart watering-places, which in the holidays rank as No. 1 dates. 1936 N. Coward To-night at 8.30 I. 92 Bert. She nearly got the bird second house. Lily. Too refined, I expect. For this date. Ibid. 93 This is as good a date as you can get. 1949 L. Feather Inside Be-bop ii. 16 Charlie's first small-band date, September 15, 1944. 1952 Wodehouse Barmy in Wonderland i. 17 He proposed to teach it a few simple tricks and get it dates on television. |
3. The period to which something ancient belongs; the age (of a thing or person).
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 1039 Vchon in scrypture a name con plye, Of Israel barnez folewande her datez, Þat is to say, as her byrþ whatez. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 415 This our common wealth, last in date, but first in price. 1699 Bp. Nicolson To Ralph Thoresby (T.), The best rules for distinguishing the date of manuscripts. 1832 W. Irving Alhambra I. 50 The Torres Vermejos, or vermilion towers..are of a date much anterior to the Alhambra. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 80 When his date Doubled her own. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) III. xiii. 291 Rich in antiquities of Roman date. |
4. The time during which something lasts; period, season; duration; term of life or existence.
| 13.. Chron. Eng. 972 in Ritson Met. Rom. II. 310 Thah the sone croune bere The fader hueld is date here. c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 858 Neuere to thryue were to long a date. c 1440 Lydg. Secrees 421 So to perseuere and lastyn a long date. c 1534 tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden) I. 153 Miserablie finishinge the date of her dayse. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 549 Ages of endless date Founded in righteousness. 1676 Dryden Aurengz. iv. i. 1725 To lengthen out his Date A Day. 1782 Cowper Lett. 11 Nov., When the date of youth is once expired. 1890 R. Bridges Shorter Poems iii. vi, Her [a flower's] brief date. |
5. The limit, term, or end of a period of time, or of the duration of something.
Obs. or
arch.| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 492 Þer is no date of hys godnesse. 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 41 Fer in age I am runne and my lyves date Aprochith faste. 1557 Tottell's Misc. (Arb.) 129 The dolefull dayes draw slowly to theyr date. a 1600 Raleigh Poems, Reply to Marlowe vi, But could youth last, and love still breed, Had joyes no date, nor age no need. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. xiv, Thy end is Truthes and Beauties doome and date. 1712–4 Pope Rape Lock iii. 171 What Time would spare, from Steel receives its date. 1784 Cowper Task v. 529 All has its date below; the fatal hour Was registered in Heaven ere time began. |
† 6. ? A fixed decree.
Obs. [
Cf. med.L.
datum ‘statutum, decretum’ (Du Cange).]
| c 1470 Henry Wallace ii. 195 Is this thi dait, sall thai our cum ilkane? On our kynrent, deyr God, quhen will thow rew? Ibid. vi. 97 What is fortoune, quha dryffis the dett so fast? [v.r. drawis the dait]. |
7. Phr.
out of date (
attrib. out-of-date): out of season; no longer in vogue or fashion, or suitable to the time; obsolete, antiquated; also
advb., as in
to go out of date, to become obsolete or old-fashioned.
(brought, written, posted) up to date: said in book-keeper's phrase of accounts, a journal, ledger, etc.; hence,
fig. up to the knowledge, requirements, or standard of the time (
colloq.).
to date: to the present time or moment. See also
up to date.
| 1608 Rowlands Hum. Looking Gl. 10 Choller is past, my anger's out of date. 1707 Collier Refl. Ridic. 291 Till she's out of Date for Matrimony. a 1734 North Exam. iii. vi. §13 (1740) 432 With his wire-drawn Slanders and out-of-date Reflections. 1824 Medwin Convers. Byron (1830) I. 124 Shakespeare's Comedies are quite out of date; many of them are insufferable to read. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. App. 538 An idea which had altogether gone out of date. 1890 Dilke Probl. Gr. Brit. I. p. vii, I..tried to bring my volumes up to date. 1893 Westm. Gaz. 9 Mar. 6/3 The two gentlemen..who invented the Gaiety burlesque ‘up to date’—and gave this detestable phrase to the language. 1936 Nature 21 Nov. 888/2 The results to date of the treatment..of cases of cancer..are detailed. 1940 War Illustr. 26 Jan. 24 It may be deduced that what has happened to date is the curtain-raiser to that aerial blitzkrieg. 1947 J. S. Huxley Unesco i. 16 The highest product of evolution to date. 1969 Listener 5 June 806/1 All this adds up to one of Dylan's most beautiful songs to date. |
8. Comb., as
date-stamping;
date-cancel v. trans., to cancel by a written or stamped date;
date-letter, a letter stamped upon gold or silver plate, pottery, etc., denoting the year of manufacture;
cf. date-mark;
date-line, a line relating to dates;
spec. the line in the Pacific Ocean (theoretically coincident with the meridian of 180° from Greenwich) at which the calendar day is reckoned to begin and end, so that at places east and west of it the date differs by one day; also a line, or part of one, giving the date of issue of a newspaper or the date (and usually also place of origin) of a dispatch, letter, etc.; hence
v. (usually in
pa. pple.,
date-lined);
date-mark n., a mark showing the date;
spec. a letter stamped upon gold or silver plate, denoting the year of manufacture; hence as
v. (
nonce-wd.), to mark with something that shows the date or age;
date-stamp, a stamp with adjustable types, used in recording the date of posting or delivery of a letter or parcel, receipting a bill, receiving a book, and the like; also, the impression made by such a stamp; so
date-stamp v. trans.,
date-stamping vbl. n.| 1929–30 Unemployment Book 2 *Date-cancel stamps immediately. |
| 1863 W. Chaffers (title) Hall marks on gold and silver plate, with tables of annual *date letters employed in the principal assay offices of England, Scotland and Ireland. 1935 Burlington Mag. June 288/1 Over-stamping on Sheffield-made candlesticks the London date-letter for 1775–6. |
| 1880 Libr. Univ. Knowl. VIII. 80 *Date-lines..occur in the Pacific Ocean between islands that have received dates by eastward, and..by westward communication. 1888 Missouri Republican 24 Mar. (Farmer Americanisms s.v. Fake), The telegraph man, who has edited Mulhatton's yarns before, and knows a fake from a barn-door, by the date line alone. 1892 N.Y. Nation 21 Apr. 304/1 He has provided an index, but..so simple a device as the running date-line should not have been neglected. 1922 C. Sandburg Slabs of Sunburnt West 35 Turning among headlines, date lines, funnies, ads. 1942 W. Faulkner Go down, Moses 262 It [sc. a press report] was datelined from Joliet, Illinois, this morning. 1944 Daily Express 7 Sept. 1/5 A message..datelined Zurich to the German-controlled Scandinavian Telegram Bureau. 1959 Elizabethan June 28/1 The date line says Jenin, Thursday. 1970 New Yorker 3 Oct. 29/2 A recent article in the Times, datelined New Providence, commented that a ‘developing crisis..has cast a pall over tourism here’. |
| 1850 Ecclesiologist X. 181 It is devoid of distinctive *date-marks, except the vague pointed vaulting. 1890 Whitaker's Almanack 636 By the following table of date-marks the age of any piece of plate manufactured in London and assayed at Goldsmiths' Hall may be ascertained. 1891 Times 12 Oct. 9/5 Each one [guess] has been date-marked, so to speak, by the peculiar beliefs..of the time or of the place. |
| 1879 Trollope John Caldigate III. x. 139 They got hold of some young man at the post-office who knew how to fix a *date-stamp with a past date. 1908 Chambers's Jrnl. Jan. 102/1 As in cases of delay in transmission or delivery, when the date-stamp shows the cause to be late posting. 1909 Daily Chron. 2 July 5/5 Mr. Buxton has undertaken that the date-stamps shall not in future bear the name of the firms. 1928 F. M. Ford Last Post vii. 168 Each egg wired to the bottom of its box, waiting till she had time to date-stamp it. 1930 C. Williams War in Heaven iii. 37 From date-stamp to waste-paper basket, from basket to files, from files to telephone Adrian pursued his investigation. 1959 Clarendonian Mar. 4 At a later stage two copies of each jacket come from the Bindery; one is date-stamped,..and is then filed for future reference. |
| 1886 Pall Mall G. 12 Aug. 5/2 The *date-stamping apparatus on the counter [of a ticket-office]. 1908 Chambers's Jrnl. Jan. 102/1 The first process..to which letters are subjected is that of date-stamping. 1960 News. Chron. 22 Sept. 9/7 A housewife faced a conference of food inspectors..to demand the date-stamping of all perishable foods. |
Add:
[8.] date rape orig. and chiefly
U.S., rape of a woman by a man she is dating or with whom she is on a date; hence as
v. trans.| 1975 S. Brownmiller Against our Will 257 *Date rapes and rapes by men who have had prior relationships with their victims also contain elements of coercive authority that militates against decisive resistance. 1980 Mademoiselle Nov. 211/3 He could be prosecuted if only the legal system would accept that ‘date rape’ is possible. 1984 M. Amis Money (1985) 22 She just came out of a two-year analysis. Then she was date-raped in Brideghampton by her weekend therapist. Ibid., With a regular rape, lust plays no part in it... But with a date rape, lust features. 1991 N.Y. Times 8 Dec. iv. 5/5 Most date rape cases come down in the end to Her versus Him. |
▸
till date:
= to date at 7. Now
Indian English.
| 1853 Times 17 Mar. 6/6 From that period till date the market has ruled exceedingly dull. 1906 Star & Sentinel (Gettysburg, Pa.) 12 Dec. 4/5 Per cent. of attendance during term till date: males 96, females 91. 1976 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 423 170/2 Soviet policy toward India, beginning from the Bolshevik revolution till date, has been dictated..by the self-interest of the Soviet Union. 2002 Sunday Times of India 22 Sept. (Men & Women Suppl.) 2/1 He has, till date, filed 43 PILs. |
▸
date movie n. colloq. (
orig. and chiefly
U.S.) a film that might be suitable for watching on a date (sense 2c),
esp. one which is pleasant but somewhat innocuous, such as a romantic comedy.
| 1986 Chicago Tribune 1 July (Tempo section) 3/4 The notion of a good ‘*date movie’ may be outmoded. But for young couples, I can't think of a more entertaining, more provocative American film to see right now. 1991 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 15 Aug. 46/4 Road House would have been the perfect date movie for young people who had outgrown Love Finds Andy Hardy..and craved a sophisticated, sexually charged cinema. 1995 FHM Sept. 37/1 Though certainly romantic, While You Were Sleeping is a bit of a liability as a date movie—it's just too gushing about family values and true love. 2001 Sunday Herald (Glasgow) (Electronic ed.) 4 Nov. But while Air might be the aural equivalent of a date movie, at least they're a pretty intelligent one; if we're talking appropriate comparisons, think High Fidelity. |
▪ III. date, v. (
deɪt)
[f. date n.2: cf. F. dater, Sp. datar to date.] 1. trans. To affix the date to (a writing, etc.); to furnish or mark with a date. A letter is said to be dated
from the place of writing named in it.
| 1433 E.E. Wills (1882) 94 Dated, ȝere & day aboveseyd. 1530 Palsgr. 507/1 Bycause you use nat to date them [letters], I wotte nat whyther to sende to you. 1682 J. Scarlett Exchanges 100 A Bill dated the 30th of January. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 308 ¶5 The following Letter..dated from York. 1796 Jane Austen Pride & Prej. (1833) 172 Elizabeth opened the letter..It was dated from Rosings at eight o'clock in the morning. 1893 Law Times XCV. 33/2 A blank transfer..neither dated nor executed by the bank nor stamped. |
2. a. To ascertain or fix the date or time of (an event, etc.); to refer or assign to a certain date, to reckon as beginning
from (some time or event). Also, to mark as being of a certain date or period; to render outdated or only briefly fashionable or appealing. Also
intr., to bear evidence of its or one's date or period; to be or become old-fashioned or outdated (
colloq.).
| 1430 Lydg. Chron. Troy Prol., Of theyr death he dateth not the yeare. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 297 That the yeare of their Maioralty may date the building, or repaire of some Conduit. 1694 Prior Hymn to Sun ii, From the blessings they bestow, Our times are dated, and our eras move. 1720 Swift Mod. Education, I date from this æra the corrupt method of education among us. 1844 Lingard Anglo-Sax. Ch. (1858) II. ix. 52 Every Christian Church which dates its origin from any period before the Reformation. 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. v. 91 The art of dating events. 1895 Westm. Gaz. 13 Mar. 5/1 Every portion of a picture was ‘dated’ from every other portion of it. 1896 G. B. Shaw Our Theatres in Nineties (1932) II. 168, I have been led into this investigation of ‘dating’ by the fact that The School for Scandal..dated very perceptibly last Saturday night at the Lyceum in point of morals. 1901 Daily Chron. 17 May 6/6 In the four or five years it has been laid aside it [sc. a play] has not ‘dated’ in the slightest degree. 1911 in C. W. Cunnington Eng. Women's Clothing (1952) iii. 104 These hats would..never date their owners. 1915 H. G. Wells Research Magnificent 9 He had found the word ‘Bushido’ written with a particularly flourishing capital letter, and twice repeated. ‘This was inevitable,’ said White... ‘And it dates... Yes—this was early.’ 1924 Glasgow Herald 6 Nov. 8 George Eliot still has her readers,..but she has begun to ‘date’ rather decidedly. 1925 Sat. Rev. 7 Nov. 1 Younger men say with contemptuous brevity that his views ‘date’. 1927 E. Bowen Hotel ix. 103 The ornaments on Mrs. Kerr's dressing-table..‘dated’ her friend for her inevitably. 1928 Belloc Convers. w. Angel xxiv. 198 All the middle and early Victorians are already dating—except Macaulay. 1928 Galsworthy Swan Song iii. xvi. 341 ‘I respected old Forsyte,’ he said to his son... ‘He dated, and he couldn't express himself; but there was no humbug about him.’ 1932 N. Coward Cavalcade ii. iii. 80 ‘I was in {oqq}Mirabelle{cqq} then.’.. ‘I was taken to see that.’.. ‘Taken to see it, were you! That dates us a bit.’ 1951 R. Knox Stimuli i. 4 Nothing..so dates our generation as this habit of talking about things being dated. 1957 Times Lit. Suppl. 20 Dec. 773/4 Almost all the films he discussed just ten short years ago have either badly dated or been forgotten. |
b. To reckon chronologically or by dates.
| 182. Byron To C'tess Blessington iv, My life is not dated by years—There are moments which act as a plough. 1837 Disraeli Venetia ii. i, Life is not dated merely by years. |
c. absol. To count the time, reckon.
| a 1742 Bentley (J.), Whether we begin the world so many millions of ages ago, or date from the late æra of about six thousand years. 1807 Med. Jrnl. XVII. 27 Six full days had..passed..dating from the time when the eruption appeared. |
d. To make or have a ‘date’ with (see
date n.2 2 c);
spec. to do so regularly. Freq. in
pass. Also
intr. and with
up.
colloq. (
orig. U.S.).
| 1902 Ade Girl Proposition 70 Before he left that Evening he had himself all dated up for a return engagement. 1903 A. Kleberg Slang Fables 67 She was Dated to a chap with Uncounted wealth. 1917 E. W. Lardner Gullible's Travels iii. 86, I..dated her up to meet me down-town the next day. 1919 Saucy Stories Nov. 57/2 ‘What about the movies..?’ ‘All I can hand you is my thanks, I'm dated up!’ 1924 Ibid. Feb. 30/1 What will..people..think when you are dated to show up with Miss Future Wife. 1924 ‘W. Fabian’ Sailors' Wives iv. 59 Warren Graves wants to date me for the Deuces Wild party Saturday night. 1928 Collier's 5 May 36/3 Dat fool gal datin' wid me and wawkin' off wid dat money man. 1938 D. Runyon Furthermore v. 95 These characters keep trying to date up the nurses. 1938 E. Bowen Death of Heart ii. vi. 290 I'm afraid I've given you rather a miss... But it's been a thickish week, and I got all dated up. 1947 ‘N. Shute’ Chequer Board 62 The white troops found to their concern that every girl was dated up by a negro. 1958 S. Ellin Eighth Circle (1959) ii. xvi. 172 ‘When will I see you again?’ ‘You can't!’ she said in alarm. ‘I mean, not this way, as if we were dating or something.’ 1970 New Yorker 18 July 28/3, I was too busy with other social engagements. I was all dated up with the Greeks. |
e. To assign
to a specified date.
| 1913 E. T. Leeds Archaeol. Anglo-Saxon Settlements v. 86 This find can be dated by coins to about a.d. 290. 1957 G. Bibby Testimony of Spade xxiii. 371 The discovery..of swords of the La Tène type together with Roman coins, of which the latest was dated to 54 b.c. 1971 N. & Q. CCXVI. 116/1 Both he [sc. Jordan] and Luick date the final /iu/ stage to the fifteenth century. |
† 3. To put an end or period to.
Obs.| 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 25 Alledging how death at the least may date his miserie. 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus iii. 2 The precept is neuer dated, but in full force. a 1618 Sylvester Epist. v. 11 His matchlesse Art, that never age shall date. |
† 4. To assign a time or duration to.
Obs. rare.
| 1676 Hale Contempl. i. 67 The studies of Policy, Methods of War..are all dated for the convenience and use of this life. |
† 5. To give (oneself) out as.
Obs. rare.
| 1612 Chapman Widowes T. Plays 1873 III. 11 A Spartan Lord, dating himselfe our great Viceroies Kinsman. |
† 6. to date from: to refer or ascribe to (a particular origin).
Obs. rare.
| 1725 N. Robinson Th. Physick 150 As we have dated the immediate Cause of all Acute Diseases, especially Fevers, from the Contraction of the Solids. |
7. intr. (for
refl.). To bear date, be dated; to be written or addressed
from (a specified place).
| a 1850 Rossetti Dante & Circ. i. (1874) 27 Dante's sonnet probably dates from Ravenna. 1874 Deutsch Rem. 363 A recent..edition dates Wilna 1852. Mod. The letter dates from London. |
8. a. To assign itself or be assigned to a specified time or period; to have its origin, take its rise
from a particular time or epoch.
| a 1828 E. Everett (Webster), The Batavian republic dates from the successes of the French arms. 1846 Grote Greece i. i. I. 68 The worship of the Sminthian Apollo dates before the earliest periods of æolic colonization. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xi. 27 We learned that the house dated back as far as the days of Matthew Stach. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. viii. 177 Two stately parish churches, one of them dating from the days of Norman independence. |
b. To rank in point of date or standing
with.
| 1827 Hood Plea Mids. Fairies xxviii, For we are very kindly creatures, dating With Nature's charities. |
▪ IV. date obs. form of
daut v.
Sc., to fondle.