-ate

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | 700+ words | Copyright

-ate2 suffix of pps., ppl. adjs., and sbs., repr. (partly through F. -at, -ate) L. -ātus, -āta, -ātum, ending of the pps. of verbs in -āre, f. -ā- + -tus, gen. ppl. suffix, as in doctus, rēctus, audītus, pps. of docēre, regere, audīre. There are many adjs. of this origin, as desperate, separatea.
A. Added to sbs. with the sense ‘provided with’, it produced many adjs., as dentātus toothed, foliātus leaved, litterātus LITERATE; on this model were made numerous adjs. in nat. hist., etc., as angustifoliate narrow-leaved, lunulate crescent-shaped.

B. L. pps. were used as sbs., in all three genders, as (i) legātus LEGATE, (medL.) prælātus PRELATE, curātus CURATE; (ii) medL. carucāta CARUCATE, virgāta VIRGATE, and numerous sbs. in the Rom. langs. (repr. by F. -ée, Sp. -ada, It. -ata; cf. -ADE); (iii) L. mandātum MANDATE, modL. præcipitātum PRECIPITATE. In chem. extended to the nomenclature of salts of acids denominated by adjs. in -IC, as NITRATE, SULPHATE.

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

T. F. HOAD. "-ate." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "-ate." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ate1.html

T. F. HOAD. "-ate." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ate1.html

Learn more about citation styles