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-ate - 8 dictionary results

-ate

1 
Use -ate in a Sentence
a suffix occurring in loanwords from Latin, its English distribution paralleling that of Latin. The form originated as a suffix added to a-stem verbs to form adjectives (separate). The resulting form could also be used independently as a noun (advocate) and came to be used as a stem on which a verb could be formed (separate; advocate; agitate). In English the use as a verbal suffix has been extended to stems of non-Latin origin: calibrate; acierate.
Origin:
< L -ātus (masc.), -āta (fem.), -ātum (neut.), equiv. to -ā- thematic vowel + -tus, -ta, -tum ptp. suffix

-ate

2 
a specialization of -ate 1 , used to indicate a salt of an acid ending in -ic, added to a form of the stem of the element or group: nitrate; sulfate.
Compare -ite 1 .

Origin:
prob. orig. in NL phrases, as plumbum acetātum salt produced by the action of acetic acid on lead

-ate

3 
a suffix occurring orig. in nouns borrowed from Latin, and in English coinages from Latin bases, that denote offices or functions (consulate; triumvirate; pontificate), as well as institutions or collective bodies (electorate; senate); sometimes extended to denote a person who exercises such a function (magistrate; potentate), an associated place (consulate), or a period of office or rule (protectorate). Joined to stems of any origin, ate3 signifies the office, term of office, or territory of a ruler or official (caliphate; khanate; shogunate).
Origin:
< L -ātus (gen. -ātūs), generalized from v. ders., as augurātus office of an augur (augurā(re) to foretell by augury + -tus suffix of v. action), construed as der. of augur augur
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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-ate 1  
suff.  
    1. Having: nervate.
    2. Characterized by: Latinate.
    3. Resembling: lyrate.
    4. One that is characterized by: laminate.
    5. Rank; office: rabbinate.
    1. One that is characterized by: laminate.
    2. Rank; office: rabbinate.
  3. To act upon in a specified manner: acidulate.

[Ultimately from Latin -ātus, past participle suff. of verbs in -āre.]
-ate 2  
suff.  
  1. A derivative of a specified chemical compound or element: aluminate.
  2. A salt or ester of a specified acid whose name ends in -ic: acetate.

[New Latin -ātum, from Latin, neuter of -ātus, past participle suff. of verbs in -āre.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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-ate

-ate\ [From the L. suffix -atus, the past participle ending of verbs of the 1st conj.]

1. As an ending of participles or participial adjectives it is equivalent to -ed; as, situate or situated; animate or animated.

2. As the ending of a verb, it means to make, to cause, to act, etc.; as, to propitiate (to make propitious); to animate (to give life to).

3. As a noun suffix, it marks the agent; as, curate, delegate. It also sometimes marks the office or dignity; as, tribunate.

4. In chemistry it is used to denote the salts formed from those acids whose names end -ic (excepting binary or halogen acids); as, sulphate from sulphuric acid, nitrate from nitric acid, etc. It is also used in the case of certain basic salts.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : -ate
Spanish: solicitante, candidato, aspirante,
German: der, *die Bewerber(in),
Japanese: 応募者
More Translations »

-ate suff.

  1. A derivative of a specified chemical compound or element: aluminate.
  2. A salt or ester of a specified acid whose name ends in -ic: acetate.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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-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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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