| 释义 |
▪ 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.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 380/115 A ȝeord of palm cam in is hond..þe ȝeord was ful of Dates. c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 307 It is schape as it were þe stoon of a date. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) viii. 30 Palme treesse berand dates. 1553Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 19 A tree..which bringeth foorth dates lyke vnto the Palme tree. 1655Moufet & Bennet Health's Improv. (1746) 297 Dates are usually put into stew'd Broths..and restorative Cullices. 1712tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 136 Dates..serve for the Subsistence of more than an hundred Millions of Souls. 1870Yeats 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.)
1914W. 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’. 1923J. Manchon Le Slang 101 You date! que tu es drôle! 1935G. Ingram Cockney Cavalcade iv. 55 A kid like that ought not to talk about love at her age, the soppy little date. 1959I. & 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.
a1400Pistill of Susan 89 Þer weore growyng so grene Þe Date wiþ þe Damesene. c1475Sqr. lowe Degre 36 The boxe, the beche, and the larel-tre, The date, also the damysè. 1742Collier Orient. Ecl. iv. 51 The date, with snowy blossoms crown'd! 1866Treas. 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.
1664Evelyn 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.
1880L. Wallace Ben-Hur 225 The sky palely blue through the groinery of countless *date-bearers.
1827Maginn Red-nosed Lieut. in Forget-me-not, *Date-brandy was not to his taste.
1875tr. 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.
1838Knickerbocker XI. 446 Each separate raisin therein embedded, bearing much resemblance to the *date-fish in his rock. 1884G. 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’.
1884J. Colborne Hicks Pasha 85 The river..is lined with stately *date-groves.
1837M. Donovan Dom. Econ. II. 347 The phœnix dactylifera or *date-palm. 1877A. B. Edwards Up Nile iii. 57 A dense, wide-spreading forest of stately date-palms.
1866Treas. 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. 1882Syd. Soc. Lex., Date plum, Indian, common name for the fruit of the Diospyros lotus.
1851Woodward Mollusca 266 The ‘*date-shell’ bores into corals, shells, and the hardest limetsone rocks.
1696Aubrey Misc. (1721) 60 Take 6 or 10 *Date-stones, dry..pulverize, and searce them.
1840Penny Cycl. XVIII. 104 *Date-sugar is not so much esteemed in India as that of the cane.
c1400Rom. Rose 1364 Fyges, and many a *date tree There wexen. 1535Coverdale Song Sol. vii. 7 Thy stature is like a date tre. 1601Holland Pliny xiii. iv. (R.), Date-trees love a light and sandie ground.
1852Grote 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.
c1430Stans Puer 97 in Babees Bk. 33 In þis writynge, þouȝ þer be no date. 1512Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 10 A paire of Indentures..the date wherof is the xijth daie of Aprill in the secound yere of your..reigne. 1630Ld. Dorchester in Ellis Orig. Lett. ii. 267 III. 259, I have received your Letters of severall dates. 1712Steele Spect. No. 320 ⁋4 A long Letter bearing Date the fourth Instant. 1817W. 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. 1837Macaulay Bacon Ess. 1854 I. 353/2 A public letter which bears date just a month after the admission of Francis Bacon. 1837Penny 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).
c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 47 Þat tyme he died..Þe date was a þousand & sextene mo. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 269 In þe date of owre dryȝte, in a drye apprile, A þousande and thre hondreth tweis thretty and ten. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) iii. 9 Þe date when þis was writen..was iim ȝere before þe incarnacion of Criste. 1607Shakes. Timon ii. i. 22 His days and times are past, And my reliances on his fracted dates Haue smit my credit. 1776Trial of Nundocomar 74/2 When was it?—I only remember the sum: I do not remember the date. 1838Lytton Leila ii. i, That within two weeks of this date thou bringest me..the keys of the city. 1893Weekly 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.
c1325E.E. Allit. P. A. 540 Þe date of þe daye þe lorde con knaw. c1400Mandeville (1839) iii. 18 The Date whan it was leyd in the Erthe. 1639tr. Du Bosq's Compl. Woman ii. 32, I would faine know..of what date they would have their Habits. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. (1843) 17/1 From these..circumstances..the duke's ruin took its date. 1764Goldsm. Trav. 133 Not far remov'd the date, When commerce proudly flourish'd through the state. 1828Carlyle 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.
[1876G. Meredith Let. 9 Mar. (1970) I. 512 If you do come I shall celebrate the event and make a date of it.] 1885E. W. Howe Mystery of Locks 187 If he'll make a date with me, I'll exchange stories with him. 1896Ade 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. 1903J. 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. 1916C. J. Dennis Songs of Sentimental Bloke 121 Date, an appointment. 1919W. S. Maugham Moon & Sixpence xlvii. 203 He walked away as if he'd remembered he had a date. 1923A. Christie Murder on Links xxvi. 285 It still worried me that Bella hadn't kept her date with me. 1923L. J. Vance Baroque xv. 147 I'll give you a ring and make a date. 1928M. Baring Comfortless Mem. iii, Mr. Donne can't come; he's got a date. 1937W. S. Maugham Theatre xxii. 209 He's got a date. Is the young ruffian having an affair with this girl? 1938Wodehouse Code of Woosters ix. 206 Before parting, we had made a date for half-past four next day on the same spot. 1949M. Mead Male & Female xii. 263 The girl in the perfect date-dress. Ibid. xiv. 282 The dress that is described as ‘date bait’. 1958Times 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.).
1925Amer. Speech I. 102/2 My date was late last evening. 1943Steinbeck Once there was War (1959) 125 On these terraces the soldiers come to sit about and to meet dates. 1951J. D. Salinger Catcher in Rye vii. 60 Stradlater was in the back, with his date, and I was in the front, with mine. 1959T. 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.
1904G. 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. 1933P. 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. 1936N. 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. 1949L. Feather Inside Be-bop ii. 16 Charlie's first small-band date, September 15, 1944. 1952Wodehouse 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).
c1325E.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. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 415 This our common wealth, last in date, but first in price. 1699Bp. Nicolson To Ralph Thoresby (T.), The best rules for distinguishing the date of manuscripts. 1832W. Irving Alhambra I. 50 The Torres Vermejos, or vermilion towers..are of a date much anterior to the Alhambra. 1864Tennyson Aylmer's F. 80 When his date Doubled her own. 1869Freeman 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. c1386Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 858 Neuere to thryue were to long a date. c1440Lydg. Secrees 421 So to perseuere and lastyn a long date. c1534tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden) I. 153 Miserablie finishinge the date of her dayse. 1667Milton P.L. xii. 549 Ages of endless date Founded in righteousness. 1676Dryden Aurengz. iv. i. 1725 To lengthen out his Date A Day. 1782Cowper Lett. 11 Nov., When the date of youth is once expired. 1890R. 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.
c1325E.E. Allit. P. A. 492 Þer is no date of hys godnesse. 1447O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 41 Fer in age I am runne and my lyves date Aprochith faste. 1557Tottell's Misc. (Arb.) 129 The dolefull dayes draw slowly to theyr date. a1600Raleigh Poems, Reply to Marlowe vi, But could youth last, and love still breed, Had joyes no date, nor age no need. c1600Shakes. Sonn. xiv, Thy end is Truthes and Beauties doome and date. 1712–4Pope Rape Lock iii. 171 What Time would spare, from Steel receives its date. 1784Cowper 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).]
c1470Henry 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.
1608Rowlands Hum. Looking Gl. 10 Choller is past, my anger's out of date. 1707Collier Refl. Ridic. 291 Till she's out of Date for Matrimony. a1734North Exam. iii. vi. §13 (1740) 432 With his wire-drawn Slanders and out-of-date Reflections. 1824Medwin Convers. Byron (1830) I. 124 Shakespeare's Comedies are quite out of date; many of them are insufferable to read. 1868Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. App. 538 An idea which had altogether gone out of date. 1890Dilke Probl. Gr. Brit. I. p. vii, I..tried to bring my volumes up to date. 1893Westm. Gaz. 9 Mar. 6/3 The two gentlemen..who invented the Gaiety burlesque ‘up to date’—and gave this detestable phrase to the language. 1936Nature 21 Nov. 888/2 The results to date of the treatment..of cases of cancer..are detailed. 1940War Illustr. 26 Jan. 24 It may be deduced that what has happened to date is the curtain-raiser to that aerial blitzkrieg. 1947J. S. Huxley Unesco i. 16 The highest product of evolution to date. 1969Listener 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.
1929–30Unemployment Book 2 *Date-cancel stamps immediately.
1863W. 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. 1935Burlington Mag. June 288/1 Over-stamping on Sheffield-made candlesticks the London date-letter for 1775–6.
1880Libr. Univ. Knowl. VIII. 80 *Date-lines..occur in the Pacific Ocean between islands that have received dates by eastward, and..by westward communication. 1888Missouri 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. 1892N.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. 1922C. Sandburg Slabs of Sunburnt West 35 Turning among headlines, date lines, funnies, ads. 1942W. Faulkner Go down, Moses 262 It [sc. a press report] was datelined from Joliet, Illinois, this morning. 1944Daily Express 7 Sept. 1/5 A message..datelined Zurich to the German-controlled Scandinavian Telegram Bureau. 1959Elizabethan June 28/1 The date line says Jenin, Thursday. 1970New 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’.
1850Ecclesiologist X. 181 It is devoid of distinctive *date-marks, except the vague pointed vaulting. 1890Whitaker'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. 1891Times 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.
1879Trollope 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. 1908Chambers'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. 1909Daily Chron. 2 July 5/5 Mr. Buxton has undertaken that the date-stamps shall not in future bear the name of the firms. 1928F. M. Ford Last Post vii. 168 Each egg wired to the bottom of its box, waiting till she had time to date-stamp it. 1930C. 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. 1959Clarendonian 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.
1886Pall Mall G. 12 Aug. 5/2 The *date-stamping apparatus on the counter [of a ticket-office]. 1908Chambers's Jrnl. Jan. 102/1 The first process..to which letters are subjected is that of date-stamping. 1960News. 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.
1975S. 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. 1980Mademoiselle Nov. 211/3 He could be prosecuted if only the legal system would accept that ‘date rape’ is possible. 1984M. 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. 1991N.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.
1853Times 17 Mar. 6/6 From that period till date the market has ruled exceedingly dull. 1906Star & Sentinel (Gettysburg, Pa.) 12 Dec. 4/5 Per cent. of attendance during term till date: males 96, females 91. 1976Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 423170/2 Soviet policy toward India, beginning from the Bolshevik revolution till date, has been dictated..by the self-interest of the Soviet Union. 2002Sunday 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.
1986Chicago 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. 1991N.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. 1995FHM 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. 2001Sunday 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.
1433E.E. Wills (1882) 94 Dated, ȝere & day aboveseyd. 1530Palsgr. 507/1 Bycause you use nat to date them [letters], I wotte nat whyther to sende to you. 1682J. Scarlett Exchanges 100 A Bill dated the 30th of January. 1712Steele Spect. No. 308 ⁋5 The following Letter..dated from York. 1796Jane Austen Pride & Prej. (1833) 172 Elizabeth opened the letter..It was dated from Rosings at eight o'clock in the morning. 1893Law 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.).
1430Lydg. Chron. Troy Prol., Of theyr death he dateth not the yeare. 1654Whitlock Zootomia 297 That the yeare of their Maioralty may date the building, or repaire of some Conduit. 1694Prior Hymn to Sun ii, From the blessings they bestow, Our times are dated, and our eras move. 1720Swift Mod. Education, I date from this æra the corrupt method of education among us. 1844Lingard Anglo-Sax. Ch. (1858) II. ix. 52 Every Christian Church which dates its origin from any period before the Reformation. 1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. v. 91 The art of dating events. 1895Westm. Gaz. 13 Mar. 5/1 Every portion of a picture was ‘dated’ from every other portion of it. 1896G. 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. 1901Daily 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. 1911in C. W. Cunnington Eng. Women's Clothing (1952) iii. 104 These hats would..never date their owners. 1915H. 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.’ 1924Glasgow Herald 6 Nov. 8 George Eliot still has her readers,..but she has begun to ‘date’ rather decidedly. 1925Sat. Rev. 7 Nov. 1 Younger men say with contemptuous brevity that his views ‘date’. 1927E. Bowen Hotel ix. 103 The ornaments on Mrs. Kerr's dressing-table..‘dated’ her friend for her inevitably. 1928Belloc Convers. w. Angel xxiv. 198 All the middle and early Victorians are already dating—except Macaulay. 1928Galsworthy 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.’ 1932N. Coward Cavalcade ii. iii. 80 ‘I was in ‘Mirabelle’ then.’.. ‘I was taken to see that.’.. ‘Taken to see it, were you! That dates us a bit.’ 1951R. Knox Stimuli i. 4 Nothing..so dates our generation as this habit of talking about things being dated. 1957Times 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. 1837Disraeli Venetia ii. i, Life is not dated merely by years.
c. absol. To count the time, reckon.
a1742Bentley (J.), Whether we begin the world so many millions of ages ago, or date from the late æra of about six thousand years. 1807Med. 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.).
1902Ade Girl Proposition 70 Before he left that Evening he had himself all dated up for a return engagement. 1903A. Kleberg Slang Fables 67 She was Dated to a chap with Uncounted wealth. 1917E. W. Lardner Gullible's Travels iii. 86, I..dated her up to meet me down-town the next day. 1919Saucy Stories Nov. 57/2 ‘What about the movies..?’ ‘All I can hand you is my thanks, I'm dated up!’ 1924Ibid. 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. 1928Collier's 5 May 36/3 Dat fool gal datin' wid me and wawkin' off wid dat money man. 1938D. Runyon Furthermore v. 95 These characters keep trying to date up the nurses. 1938E. 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. 1958S. 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.’ 1970New 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.
1913E. T. Leeds Archaeol. Anglo-Saxon Settlements v. 86 This find can be dated by coins to about a.d. 290. 1957G. 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. 1971N. & 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.
1589Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 25 Alledging how death at the least may date his miserie. 1612T. Taylor Comm. Titus iii. 2 The precept is neuer dated, but in full force. a1618Sylvester Epist. v. 11 His matchlesse Art, that never age shall date.
†4. To assign a time or duration to. Obs. rare.
1676Hale 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.
1612Chapman 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.
1725N. 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).
a1850Rossetti Dante & Circ. i. (1874) 27 Dante's sonnet probably dates from Ravenna. 1874Deutsch 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.
a1828E. Everett (Webster), The Batavian republic dates from the successes of the French arms. 1846Grote Greece i. i. I. 68 The worship of the Sminthian Apollo dates before the earliest periods of æolic colonization. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. I. xi. 27 We learned that the house dated back as far as the days of Matthew Stach. 1868Freeman 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.
1827Hood 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. |