English Explanatory Dictionary

ate

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. simple past of eat
  2. past participle of eat
noun
  1. An elder sister
  2. A respectful title or form of address for an older woman.

Pronunciation

āt ĕt /eɪt/ [eːt] en-us-ate.ogg /ɛt/ /ˈʔɐ.te/

Word forms

ate et ates

Etymology

Probably a remodelling of earlier eat by analogy with other strong verbs such as break:†brake, give:gave, speak:†spake; compare the same process in rare Middle English at (“ate”) besides more usual et. However, the pronunciation /ɛt/ likely continues Middle English et, from Old English ǣt, from Proto-West Germanic *āt, from Proto-Germanic *ēt, with shortening as in e.g. thread.

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