ovate

comparative more ovate · superlative most ovate

1. Shaped like an egg.First known use 1760

   The Geese, Anserinæ, have the body ovate, the head small, the bill stout and somewhat conical; the legs rather long; the wings of great length and breadth.

   1852, William Macgillivray, A history of British birds, indigenous and migratory, page 573

2. biologyWith the broadest extremity near the base.

plural ovates

1. archaeologyAn egg-shaped hand axe.First known use 1871

   Slightly derived handaxes from the Mildenhall glaciofluvial sands, generally in fresh condition and dominated by ovates and cordates.

   2012, Paul Pettitt, Mark White, The British Palaeolithic, page 122

plural ovates

1. An Irish bard.
2. A member at a certain grade of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, a neo-druidism order based in England.
3. A modern-day bard of a gorsedd, especially one acknowledged at an eisteddfod.

present singular third person ovates · participle present ovating · participle past ovated · past ovated

1. raretransitiveTo give someone an ovation.First known use 1638
2. intransitiverareTo applaud enthusiastically.First known use 1977