Everyday LifeGreek → English
Date
/deɪt/noun
The sweet, sticky, wrinkled fruit of the date palm.
The Greek roots
δάκτυλος
dáktylos
finger; date fruit
Literally: “finger”
Follow a root:δάκτυλος5 words
The story of the word
The fruit is finger-shaped and Greek used one word for both. Latin took it as dactylus, Old French wore it down to date, and English took that. The calendar date is a different word entirely, from Latin data, given on such a day. The metrical dactyl belongs here too: one long syllable and two short ones, on the model of the three bones of a finger.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → Old French → English
- First recorded
- 13th century
Same family
dactylpterodactyldactylic
In a sentence
He stuffed the dates with almonds and served them cold.
A box of dates arrived from her aunt in Cairo every winter.