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date¹ / dāt/ • n. 1. the day of the month or year as specified by a number. ∎  a particular day or year when a given event occurred or will occur: significant dates like 1776 and 1789 they've set a date for the wedding. ∎  (dates) the years of a person's birth and death or of the beginning and end of a period or event. ∎  the period of time to which an artifact or structure belongs. ∎  a written, printed, or stamped statement on an item giving the day, month, and year of writing, publication, or manufacture. 2. inf. a social or romantic appointment or engagement. ∎  a person with whom one has such an engagement. ∎  an appointment: a date with a specialist. ∎  a musical or theatrical engagement or performance, esp. as part of a tour: possible live dates in the near future. • v. [tr.] 1. establish or ascertain the date of (an object or event): they date the paintings to 1460–70. ∎  mark with a date: sign and date the document | [as adj.] (dated) a signed and dated painting. ∎  [intr.] have its origin at a particular time; have existed since: the controversy dates back to 1986. 2. indicate or expose as being old-fashioned: disco—that word alone dates me. ∎  [intr.] seem old-fashioned: [as adj.] (dated) his style would sound dated nowadays. 3. inf. go out with (someone in whom one is romantically or sexually interested). PHRASES: to date until now: their finest work to date.DERIVATIVES: dat·er n. ORIGIN: Middle English: via Old French from medieval Latin data, feminine past participle of dare ‘give’; from the Latin formula used in dating letters, data (epistola) ‘(letter) given or delivered,’ to record a particular time or place. date² • n. 1. a sweet, dark brown, oval fruit containing a hard stone. 2. (also date palm) the tall palm tree (Phoenix dactylifera) that bears clusters of this fruit, native to western Asia and North Africa.

date name for a palm ( Phoenix dactylifera ) and for its edible fruit. Probably native to Arabia and North Africa, it has from earliest times been a principal food in many desert and tropical regions. For some 4,000 years it has been grown near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. It is cultivated in many other warm regions, including parts of the SW United States and Mexico. The trees sometimes reach a height of 100 ft (30.5 m) and yield fruit for generations. Staminate (male) and pistillate (female) flowers are borne on separate trees, and pollination of those grown commercially is usually done by hand. Seedless dates may be produced without pollination but they are inferior. Heavy, pendant clusters of the sweet, nutritious fruits are produced; the yield after maturity (10 to 15 years) is usually from 100 to 200 lb (45-90 kg) or more per tree annually. Each fruit is 1 to 3 in. (2.54-7.6 cm) long, reddish brown or yellowish brown, and somewhat cylindrical or oblong. When ripe, the bunches of fruit are cut intact from the palm and matured in a warm place. In the Old World, a sugar and a fermented drink are made from the sap of the date palm and other species of Phoenix, and the seeds are sometimes roasted and used as a coffee substitute or pressed for oil, leaving a residue useful for stock feed. The wood of the trunk is often used in construction and the leaves are used for weaving mats and baskets. Dates are classified in the division Magnoliophyta , class Liliopsida, order Arecales, family Palmae.

date Fruit of date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, known as far back as 3000 bc. There are three types: ‘soft’ (about 80% of the dry matter is invert sugars); semi‐dry (about 40% of the dry matter is invert sugars and 40% sucrose); and dry (20–40% of the dry matter is invert sugars and 40–60% is sucrose). A 100‐g portion of fresh dates (five weighed with stones) is a good source of vitamin C and supplies 230 kcal (960 kJ); 100 g of dried dates (three weighed with stones) provides 3 g of dietary fibre and supplies 270 kcal (1130 kJ).

Originally from Morocco, the medjool variety was reserved for royalty and dignitaries. In the 1920s, disease threatened the palms in Morocco, and immature trees were given to the USA, where they are now grown commercially.

date 2 time or period of an event. XIV. — (O)F. — medL. data, sb. use of fem. of datus, pp. of dare give. Derived from the L. formula used in dating letters, e.g. Data (sc. epistola letter) Romæ, given or delivered at Rome, i.e. by the writer to the bearer.
So date vb. XV.

date 1 fruit of the palm Phoenix dactylifera. XIII. — OF. date (mod. datte) :- L. dactylus (see DACTYL). The application to the date-palm has reference to the finger-like shape of its leaves.

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