-ate

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-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.

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