past tense of eat (q.v.).
Greek goddess of infatuation and evil, from ate "infatuation, bane, ruin, mischief," of uncertain origin.
Old English etan (class V strong verb; past tense æt, past participle eten) "to eat, devour, consume," from Proto-Germanic *etanan (cf. Old Frisian ita, Old Saxon etan, Middle Dutch eten, Dutch eten, Old High German ezzan, German essen, Old Norse eta, Gothic itan), from PIE root *ed- "to eat" (see edible).
Transferred sense of "slow, gradual corrosion or destruction" is from 1550s. Meaning "to preoccupy, engross" (as in what's eating you?) first recorded 1893. Slang sexual sense of "do cunnilingus on" is first recorded 1927. Eat out "dine away from home" is from 1933. The slang phrase to eat one's words is from 1570s; to eat one's heart out is from 1590s; for eat one's hat, see hat.
word-forming element used in forming nouns from Latin words ending in -atus, -atum (e.g. estate, primate, senate). Those that came to English via Old and Middle French often arrived with -at, but an -e was added after c.1400 to indicate the long vowel.
The suffix also can mark adjectives, formed from Latin past participals in -atus, -ata (e.g. desolate, moderate, separate), again, they often were adopted in Middle English as -at, with an -e appended after c.1400.
verbal suffix for Latin verbs in -are, identical with -ate (1). Old English commonly made verbs from adjectives by adding a verbal ending to the word (e.g. gnornian "be sad, mourn," gnorn "sad, depressed"), but as the inflections wore off English words in late Old and early Middle English, there came to be no difference between the adjective and the verb in dry, empty, warm, etc. Thus accustomed to the identity of adjectival and verbal forms of a word, the English, when they began to expand their Latin-based vocabulary after c.1500, simply made verbs from Latin past-participial adjectives without changing their form (e.g. aggravate, substantiate) and it became the custom that Latin verbs were anglicized from their past participle stems.
in chemistry, word-forming element used to form the names of salts from acids in -ic; from Latin -atus, -atum, suffix used in forming adjectives and thence nouns; identical with -ate (1).
The substance formed, for example, by the action of acetic acid (vinegar) on lead was described in the 18th century as plumbum acetatum, i.e. acetated lead. Acetatum was then taken as a noun meaning "the acetated (product)," i.e. acetate. [W.E. Flood, "The Origins of Chemical Names," London, 1963]
-ate suff.
A derivative of a specified chemical compound or element: aluminate.
A salt or ester of a specified acid whose name ends in -ic: acetate.
eat (ēt)
v. ate (āt), eat·en (ēt'n), eat·ing, eats
To take into the body by the mouth for digestion or absorption.
To consume, ravage, or destroy by or as if by ingesting, such as by a disease.
| -ate A suffix used to form the name of a salt or ester of an acid whose name ends in -ic, such as acetate, a salt or ester of acetic acid. Such salts or esters have one oxygen atom more than corresponding salts or esters with names ending in -ite. For example, a sulfate is a salt of sulfuric acid and contains the group SO4, while a sulfite contains SO3. Compare -ite. |
Greek mythological figure who induced rash and ruinous actions by both gods and men. She made Zeus-on the day he expected the Greek hero Heracles, his son by Alcmene, to be born-take an oath: the child born of his lineage that day would rule "over all those dwelling about him" (Iliad, Book XIX). Zeus's wife, the goddess Hera, implored her daughter Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth, to delay Heracles' birth and to hasten that of another child of the lineage, Eurystheus, who would therefore become ruler of Mycenae and have Heracles as his subject. Having been deceived, Zeus cast Ate out of Olympus, after which she remained on earth, working evil and mischief. Zeus later sent to earth the Litai ("Prayers"), his old and crippled daughters, who followed Ate and repaired the harm done by her.