ate

ate · verb¹

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*ēt
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*āt
3. Old English · inherited fromǣt
4. Middle English · inherited fromet
5. English todayate

Probably a remodelling of earlier eat by analogy with other strong verbs such as break:†brake, give:gave, speak:†spake; compare the same process in rare Middle English at (“ate”) besides more usual et. However, the pronunciation /ɛt/ likely continues Middle English et, from Old English ǣt, from Proto-West Germanic *āt, from Proto-Germanic *ēt, with shortening as in e.g. thread.

ate · noun²

1. Hokkien · derived from阿姊“eldest sister”
2. Tagalog · borrowed fromate“elder sister”
3. English todayate

Borrowed from Tagalog ate (“elder sister”), from Hokkien 阿姊 (á-ché, “eldest sister”).

Words from the same roots