ate
verbnouncommon in dialogue
- United States//eɪt//
- Canada/[eːt]/
- //ɛt//
- //ˈʔɐ.te//
An elder sister
verb
- 1
Also a form of eatsimple past of eat
- 2
Also a form of eatpast participle of eat
I have a very good appetite, have ate some excellent melons, and they have served me up some quails, the fattest and tenderest I have ever ate.
As soon as all had ate, and the elder ones paid, the carriage was ordered; […]
The emotionless […] led the way into a large dining-room furnished with the severe simplicity of an apartment which is meant to be ate in, but never lived in; and at top of a table which would have accommodated eighteen persons Robert beheld Mr. Harcourt Talboys.
“Haven't ate all the eggs, I hope? For I be hungry as a hunter[…]
Etymology
Probably a remodelling of earlier eat by analogy with other strong verbs such as break:†brake, give:gave, speak:†spake; compare the same process in rare Middle English at (“ate”) besides more usual et. However, the pronunciation /ɛt/ likely continues Middle English et, from Old English ǣt, from Proto-West Germanic *āt, from Proto-Germanic *ēt, with shortening as in e.g. thread.
noun
- 1
An elder sister
- 2
A respectful title or form of address for an older woman.
Etymology
Borrowed from Tagalog ate (“elder sister”), from Hokkien 阿姊 (á-ché, “eldest sister”).
Forms
- plural
- ates