-ate
-ate suffix: forms adjectives with meaning "having the specified thing".
Suffix (1)
-ate (adjective-forming suffix, comparative more -ate, superlative most -ate)
- forms adjectives with meaning "having the specified thing"
- lobate — “having lobes, lobed”
- forms adjectives with meaning "characterized by the specified thing"
- Italianate — “characterized by Italian features”
- forms adjectives with meaning "resembling the specified thing"
- palmate — “resembling a palm leaf”
- ending of Latin- (ending in -ātus) and French-borrowed (ending in -é) participial adjectives
- deliberate — “deliberated”
- degenerate — “degenerated”
Suffix (2)
-ate
- up until Early Modern English, formed regular past participles of verbs ending in -ate. Rare afterwards except in archaizing poetry, religious writing and Scotland. The alternative ending -ated was used from as early as Middle English
Suffix (3)
-ate (verb-forming suffix, third-person singular simple present -ates, present participle -ating, simple past and past participle -ated)
- derives or adapts verbs (mostly) from Latin stems
- Latin fōrmula (“a formula”) + -ate → formulate
- Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ, “a sound”) + -ate → phonate
Suffix (4)
-ate (noun-forming suffix, plural -ates)
- forms nouns meaning "person or thing that is either the object of a performed transitive verb or the subject of an intransitive one"
- affiliate — “a person having been affiliated; literally, affiliated”
- diffus(e) + -ate → diffusate (“in a process of dialysis, material that has diffused”)
- Synonyms:
- -ee
- forms nouns meaning "person or thing that is the subject of a transitive verb"
- assassin + -ate → assassinate (“an assassin”)
- forms nouns meaning "specimen of a corresponding taxon ending in -ata"
- articulate — “An animal of the taxon Articulata”
Suffix (5)
-ate (noun-forming suffix, plural -ates)
Suffix (6)
-ate (noun-forming suffix, plural -ates)
- forms nouns denoting a rank or office
- emirate — “the office of an emir”
- forms nouns denoting the concrete charge, context of a rank or office
- emirate — “the realm of an emir”
- forms nouns denoting a group of officials associated with a rank or office
- triumvirate — “an official group of three men, triumvirs”
- forms nouns denoting a social or political system ruled by people or someone of a certain rank or office
- patriarchate — “a social system in which heads of household (patriarchs) hold the power”
- forms nouns denoting a state (government) ruled by people or someone of a certain rank or office
- emirate — “a state ruled by an emir”
- forms nouns denoting a state associated with one's social situation
- celibate — “the state of being a bachelor, celibacy”
- Synonyms:
- -cy
Synonyms of -ate
Forms of -ate
| comparative | more -ate |
|---|---|
| superlative | most -ate |
| third-person singular present | -ates |
| present participle | -ating |
| past participle | -ated |
| past | -ated |
| plural | -ates |
Origin of -ate
First attested in the 15th century; borrowed from Latin -ātus, the perfect passive participle ending of first conjugation verbs, also used to form participial adjectives from nouns. Before -ate was introduced as a suffix in Middle English, Latin-borrowed participial adjectives were written with final -at (Middle English desolat for modern desolate) and could also be used as past participles (see degenerate or communicate for remnants of it) with or without a corresponding verb ending in -aten; see Etymology 2. Doublet of -ee and, distantly, of -ed.
See Etymology 1. In Middle English, verbs were derived from Latin-borrowed participial adjectives (also used as their past participles) and formed their infinitives in -aten (see -en; Middle English desolaten for modern desolate). In the 15th century, the loss of most verbal morphology made verbs formally identical to adjectives. This led to the heteronymy of Middle English verbs in -aten with their corresponding past participles, numerous adjectives in -ate being used as verbs, and, in the late 16th century, the systematic borrowing of such Latin participles as English verbs. The sheer number of newly borrowed verbs from Latin ending in -ate later gave rise to -ate's productivity as a verbal suffix. further etymology The same process also led to the systematic borrowing of Latin perfect passive participle of other kinds as English verbs. See dissect, delete, erase, applause (when older applaud) and exhaust: all borrowed from Latin participial stems of diverse conjugation groups. Compare also Basque -tu for similar development.
From the substantivization of perfect passive participles of first conjugation Latin verbs; see Etymology 1. Partly taken from French animate substantives that began to be Latinized during the 14th century: see French avoué and its re-Latinized version avocat, whence English advocate which underwent further re-Latinization. Partly from inanimate substantives taken from neuter forms of Latin participles: see mandate. French -é (e.g., avoué, employé) later gave English -ee.
Questions about -ate
- What does -ate mean?
- -ate means forms adjectives with meaning "having the specified thing".
- What part of speech is -ate?
- -ate is a suffix.
Words near -ate in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: -ate (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame--ate.wav.
Cite this entry: “-ate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/-ate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.