ate

Definition of ate

4 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

verb

(form-of, past)simple past of eat

See all 4 definitions

verb

(form-of, past)simple past of eat
(colloquial, form-of, nonstandard, participle, past)past 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; […]”
““Haven't ate all the eggs, I hope? For I be hungry as a hunter[…]”
“So I'd have ate when me Dad had ate, sort of thing, I think, you know when he come home from work, I'd have waited for him, I wouldn't have said I wanted mine at four o'clock[…]”

noun

(Philippines)An elder sister
(Philippines)A respectful title or form of address for an older woman.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

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…

See full 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.

Anagrams of ate

5 plays · some not in Scrabble

Best play eat 3 points

Words you can make from ate

9 playable · top: EAT (3 pts)

Best play eat 3 points

3-letter words

3 words

2-letter words

5 words

Hooks

13 extensions · 12 front · 1 back

A single letter you can add to ate to make another valid word.

Front

Back

ATES 4 pts