ate: Meaning and Definition of

ate

Pronunciation: (ātBrit.et), [key]
  1. pt. of

A•te

Pronunciation: (ā'tē, ä'tē), [key]
— n.
  1. an ancient Greek goddess personifying the fatal blindness or recklessness that produces crime and the divine punishment that follows it.

ATE

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. equipment that makes a series of tests automatically.

-ate

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. a suffix occurring in loanwords from Latin, its English distribution paralleling that of Latin. The form originated as a suffix added to a-stem verbs to form adjectives (separate). The resulting form could also be used independently as a noun (advocate) and came to be used as a stem on which a verb could be formed (separate; advocate; agitate). In English the use as a verbal suffix has been extended to stems of non-Latin origin: calibrate; acierate.

-ate

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. a specialization of -ate, used to indicate a salt of an acid ending in -ic, added to a form of the stem of the element or group: nitrate; sulfate. Compare -ite.

-ate

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. a suffix occurring orig. in nouns borrowed from Latin, and in English coinages from Latin bases, that denote offices or functions (consulate; triumvirate; pontificate), as well as institutions or collective bodies (electorate; senate); sometimes extended to denote a person who exercises such a function (magistrate; potentate), an associated place (consulate), or a period of office or rule (&hasp;protectorate). Joined to stems of any origin, signifies the office, term of office, or territory of a ruler or official (caliphate; khanate; shogunate).
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
See also:
  • ate (Thesaurus)