Etymology
1. "time," c.1330, from O.Fr.
date, from M.L.
data, noun use of fem. sing. of L.
datus "given," pp. of
dare "to give, grant, offer," from PIE base
*do- "lay out, spread out" (cf. Skt.
dadati "gives," O.Pers.
dadatuv "let him give," O.C.S.
dati "give," Gk.
didomi "give, offer," O.Ir.
dan "gift, talent"). The Roman convention of closing every article of correspondence by writing "given" and the day and month -- meaning "given to messenger" -- led to
data becoming a term for "the time (and place) stated." The meaning "to give" is also the root of the grammatical
dative (M.E.), the case of giving.
Dateline in the journalism sense is attested from 1888. Phrase
up to date (1890) is from bookkeeping.
Dated "old-fashioned" is attested from 1900.
Date (n.) "romantic liaison" is from 1885, gradually evolving from the general sense of "appointment;" the verb in this sense is first recorded 1902. Meaning "person one has a date with" is from 1925.
Blind date first recorded 1925, but probably in use before that.
Date rape first attested 1975.
2. From Middle English date, from Old French date, from Late Latin data, from Latin datus (“given”), past participle of dare (“to give”); from Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- (“to give”). Doublet of data.
Verbs referencing "date"
Danish
date, Norwegian
date, Norwegian, nynorsk
date, Norwegian, nynorsk
data, Dutch
daten, German, old spelling
daten, Finnish with old forms
deittailla, Icelandic
deita, Swedish
dejta.