English word origin

Etymology of ate

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗

verb

simple past of eat · past participle of eat

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inherited-form mentionetenm
Inherited-form mentionǣtang
Inherited-form mention*ātgmw-pro
Inherited-form mention*ētgem-pro

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "m+",
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "at",
        "t": "ate"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English at (“ate”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "et"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English et"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "ǣt"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English ǣt"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*āt"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *āt"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*ēt"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *ēt"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "eat",
      "eat#English"
    ],
    [
      "break",
      "break#English"
    ],
    [
      "brake",
      "brake#English"
    ],
    [
      "give",
      "give#English"
    ],
    [
      "gave",
      "gave#English"
    ],
    [
      "speak",
      "speak#English"
    ],
    [
      "spake",
      "spake#English"
    ],
    [
      "at",
      "at#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "et",
      "et#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "et",
      "et#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "ǣt",
      "æt#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*āt",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/āt"
    ],
    [
      "*ēt",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/ēt"
    ],
    [
      "thread",
      "thread#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "simple past of eat",
        "past participle of eat"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "past",
        "colloquial",
        "nonstandard",
        "participle"
      ],
      "recordId": "668e8ec1ad62d9cb518cceaec4519bfcbe39c9394a45507bbafefa1531d31acd",
      "rawRecordSha256": "44e17068a66aa03e17b4a555f61e7b17749a82719657f524b3c097e587578806",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 16395
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗

noun

An elder sister · A respectful title or form of address for an older woman.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Borrowed from Tagalog ate (“elder sister”), from Hokkien 阿姊 (á-ché, “eldest sister”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Borrowed-form mentionatetl · elder sister
Derivation mention阿姊nan-hbl · eldest sister

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "bor+",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "tl",
        "3": "ate",
        "t": "elder sister"
      },
      "expansion": "Borrowed from Tagalog ate (“elder sister”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "nan-hbl",
        "3": "阿姊",
        "tr": "á-ché",
        "t": "eldest sister"
      },
      "expansion": "Hokkien 阿姊 (á-ché, “eldest sister”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "ate",
      "ate#Tagalog"
    ],
    [
      "阿姊",
      "阿姊#Hokkien"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "An elder sister",
        "A respectful title or form of address for an older woman."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Philippines"
      ],
      "recordId": "b45080d553aa26b0d5e72ed92a8e437e8d59afbc7273b94b001cdc4fc8026353",
      "rawRecordSha256": "632423412aa66c8199c13c0df5bbf779c5ea875ff4f6feafd72b7cd67ba1d4e0",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 16396
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for ate →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-YXRl