date

date · noun¹

1. Hebrew · derived fromדֶּקֶל“date palm”
2. Arabic · derived fromدَقَل“variety of date palm”
3. Semitic · derived from
4. Ancient Greek · derived fromδάκτυλος“finger”
5. Old Provençal · derived fromdatil
6. Latin · derived fromdactylus
7. Old French · derived fromdate
8. Middle English · inherited fromdate
9. English todaydate

From Middle English date, from Old French date, datil, datille, from Latin dactylus (likely via Old Provençal datil), from Ancient Greek δάκτυλος (dáktulos, “finger”) (from the resemblance of the date to a human finger), probably a folk-etymological alteration of a word from a Semitic source such as Arabic دَقَل (daqal, “variety of date palm”) or Hebrew דֶּקֶל (deqel, “date palm”). Doublet of dactyl and dactylus. Displaced native Old English fingeræppel, literally "finger-apple".

date · noun, verb²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*deh₃-“to give”
2. Latin · derived fromdatus“given”
3. Late Latin · derived fromdata
4. Old French · derived fromdate
5. Middle English · inherited fromdate
6. English todaydate

From Middle English date, from Old French date, from Late Latin data, from Latin datus (“given”), past participle of dare (“to give”); from Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- (“to give”). Doublet of data.

Date · proper noun³

1. Japanese · borrowed from伊達“a city in Hokkaido Prefecture”
2. Sanskrit · derived fromदाता
3. Marathi · borrowed fromदाते
4. English todayDate

Two main origins: * Borrowed from Marathi दाते (dāte), from Sanskrit दाता (dātā), nominative singular of दातृ (dātṛ, “giver, donor”). * Borrowed from Japanese 伊達 (Date, “a city in Hokkaido Prefecture”), a habitational surname.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 14th c. The fruit of the date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, somewhat in the shape of an olive, containing a soft, sweet pulp and enclosing a hard kernel.
• from 14th c. The date palm.
• from 20th c. The anus.