dating

Noun

dating (countable and uncountable, plural datings)

1. A form of romantic courtship typically between two individuals with the aim of assessing the other's suitability as a partner in an intimate relationship or as a spouse.
   • Janet was surprised at how much casual dating had changed since she was last single.
   • We met on a popular dating app.
2. An estimation of the age of an artifact, biological vestige, linguistic usage, etc.
   • 1922 (July), A. E. Douglass, "Some aspects of the use of the annual rings of trees in climatic study". The Scientific Monthly 15(1): 5-21.
     A comparison in seven sequoias between very careful counting and accurate dating in 2,000 years shows an average counting error of 35 years, which is only 1.7...
   • Finally, with the exception of the rug in the paintings of Willem Duyster, the datings of both groups approximately agree;1991, Onno Ydema, Carpets and Their Dating in Netherlandish Paintings, 1540-1700, page 120
3. The setting of a date on which an event or transaction is to take place or take effect.
   • But C.O.D. datings are relatively rare. They are so disliked by buyers that they are used by sellers only when the latter are quite uncertain of a buyer's ability and willingness to pay.1967, Delbert J. Duncan, Charles Franklin Phillips, Retailing: Principles and Methods, page 352
   • Pressure from unemployment for retrenchment is evident for the "early" as well as "best" datings of retrenchment. However, when retrenchment datings lean toward earlier years, unemployment is not the preeminent factor among the various accelerators and decelerators of retrenchment that it is for...1999, Alexander M. Hicks, Social Democracy and Welfare Capitalism, page 227