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pate

 [peyt]   Example Sentences Origin

pate

   [peyt]
noun
1.
the crown or top of the head.
2.
the head.
3.
the brain.
Origin:
1275–1325; Middle English, < ?

Can be confused: paddy, pate, pâte, pâté.

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Pate is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
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Example Sentences
  • The light hit that shaved pate as if it were a reflector warning the.
  • Then he extends his arm deeper, working the silt, and draws out the domed pate of a human skull.
  • And pate de foie gras certainly didn't come in cans.
Dictionary.com Unabridged

pâte

   [paht]
noun
porcelain paste used in ceramic work.
Origin:
1860–65; < French; see paste

Can be confused: paddy, pate, pâte, pâté.

pâ·té

   [pah-tey, pa‐; Fr. pah-tey, pa‐]
noun, plural -tés  [‐teyz; Fr. ‐tey] ,
1.
French Cookery. a paste or spread made of puréed or finely chopped liver, meat, fish, game, etc., served as an hors d'oeuvre.
2.
foie gras.
Origin:
1695–1705; < French; see paste, -ee

Can be confused: paddy, pate, pâte, pâté.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To pate
Collins
World English Dictionary
pate (peɪt)
 
—n
the head, esp with reference to baldness or (in facetious use) intelligence
 
[C14: of unknown origin]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

pate
"top of the head," 1197, perhaps a shortened form of O.Fr. patene or M.L. patena, both from L. patina "pan, dish."
EXPAND

pate
"paste," 1706, from Fr. pâté, from O.Fr. paste, earlier pastée, from paste (see paste (n.)). Pâté de foie gras (1827) is lit. "pie of fat liver;" originally served in a pastry (as still in Alsace), the phrase now chiefly in Eng. with ref. to the filling.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

pate

(French: "paste"), in French cuisine, a filled pastry, analogous to the English pie. The term pate is also used, with modifiers, to denote two other distinct preparations: pate en terrine, a meat, game, or fish mixture wrapped in suet or other animal fat or lining and cooked in a deep oval or oblong dish, without pastry, and served cold; and pate en croute, a meat, game, or fish filling cooked in a crust and served hot or cold. It is from pate en terrine, more properly abbreviated terrine, that the pate of British and American usage derives.

Learn more about pate with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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