Where does “predate” come from?
Predate comes from Middle English date, Latin dare meaning "to give," and Ancient Greek δάκτυλος, with the prefix prae- meaning "before."
predate (English): To designate a date earlier than the actual one;...
Definitions
- To designate a date earlier than the actual one;...
Ancestry of “predate”, step by step
predate traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English date
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | date | The fruit of the date palm, "Phoenix... |
| 2 | Middle English | date | — |
| 3 | Old French | date | date point in time |
| 4 | Latin | data | nominative feminine singular of datus; nominative... |
| 5 | Latin | datum | gift, present; accusative supine of dō;... |
| 6 | Latin | datus | given; offered; yielded |
| 7 | Latin | dāre | — |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | didō | give |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | dédeh₃ti | to be giving |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | deh₃- | to give |
via English predation
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | predation | The preying of one animal on others; The action... |
| 2 | Latin | praedātiō | the taking of booty, plundering; predation |
| 3 | Latin | praedor | I acquire loot, such as through robbery or war; I... |
| 4 | Latin | praeda | plunder, spoils of war, booty; prey, game taken... |
| 5 | Latin | praeheda | — |
| 6 | Latin | prae | before; in front; in front of |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | prai | before; in front of |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | preh₂- | before, in front |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |