cate

See also: Cate, caté, câte, and câté

English

Etymology

Aphetized from acate, from Old Northern French acat (“purchase”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /keɪt/
• Homophones: Cait, Cate, Kait, Kate
• Rhymes: -eɪt

Noun

cate (plural cates)

1. (in the plural) A delicacy or item of food.
   • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)]:

     Kate of Kate-hall, my super-daintie Kate, / For dainties are all Kates, and therefore Kate / Take this of me, Kate of my consolation […]

   • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Folio Society 2006, vol. 1 p. 101:

     Have we not heard of divers most fertile regions, plenteously yeelding al maner of necessary victuals, where neverthelesse the most ordinary cates [translating méz] and daintiest dishes, were but bread, water-cresses, and water?

   • 1819, John Keats, “The Eve of St. Agnes”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, →OCLC, stanza XX, page 93, lines 172–173:

     All cates and dainties shall be stored there / Quickly on this feast-night: [...]

   • 1985, Anthony Burgess, Kingdom of the Wicked:

     He did not at first produce the cates and vintages they expected; they looked, most of them, puzzled at the lack of materials of revelry.

Related terms

• cater

Anagrams

• TeCA, tace, acet-, CETA

Afar

Etymology

Cognate with Saho xate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ħaˈte/ [ħʌˈtɛ]
• Hyphenation: ca‧te

Verb

caté (passive cattiimé)

1. (transitive) to help

Conjugation

Conjugation of cate (type II verb)
		1st singular	2nd singular	3rd singular		1st plural	2nd plural	3rd plural
				m	f
perfective	V-affirmative	catéh	cattéh	catéh	cattéh	catnéh	catteeníh	cateeníh
	N-affirmative	caté	catté	caté	catté	catné	cattén	catén
	negative	mácatinniyo	mácatinnito	mácatinna	mácatinna	mácatinnino	mácatinniton	mácatinnon
imperfective	V-affirmative	catáh	cattáh	catáh	cattáh	catnáh	cattaanáh	cataanáh
	N-affirmative	catá	cattá	catá	cattá	catná	cattán	catán
	negative	mácata	mácatta	mácata	mácatta	mácatna	mácattan	mácatan
prospective	V-affirmative	catéliyoh catéyyoh	catélitoh catéttoh	catéleh	catéleh	catélinoh caténnoh	catélitoonuh catéttoonuh	catéloonuh
	N-affirmative	catéliyo catéyyo	catélito catétto	catéle	catéle	catélino caténno	catéliton catétton	catélon
conjunctive I	V-affirmative	cátuh	cáttuh	cátuh	cáttuh	cátuh	cattóonuh	catóonuh
	N-affirmative	cátu	cáttu	cátu	cáttu	cátu	cattón	catón
	negative	caté wáyuh	caté wáytuh	caté wáyuh	caté wáytuh	caté wáynuh	caté waytóonuh	caté wóonuh
conjunctive II	V-affirmative	catánkeh	cattánkeh	catánkeh	cattánkeh	catnánkeh	cattaanánkeh	cataanánkeh
	N-affirmative	catánke	cattánke	catánke	cattánke	catnánke	cattaanánke	cataanánke
	negative	caté wáankeh	caté waytánkeh	caté wáankeh	caté waytánkeh	caté waynánkeh	caté waytaanánkeh	caté wáankeh
jussive	affirmative	cátay	cáttay	cátay	cáttay	cátnay	cattóonay	catóonay
	negative	caté wáay	caté wáytay	caté wáay	caté wáytay	caté wáynay	caté waytóonay	caté wóonay
past conditional	affirmative	catinniyóy	catinnitóy	catinnáy	catinnáy	catinninóy	catinnitoonúy	catinnoonúy
	negative	caté wanniyóy	caté wannitóy	caté wannáy	caté wannáy	caté wanninóy	caté wannitoonúy	caté wanninoonúy
present conditional I	affirmative	caték	catték	caték	catték	catnék	catteeník	cateeník
	negative	caté wéek	caté wayték	caté wéek	caté wayték	caté waynék	caté wayteeník	caté weeník
		singular	plural			singular	plural
consultative	affirmative	catóo	catnóo	imperative	affirmative	cát	cáta
	negative	macatóo	macatnóo		negative	mácatin	mácatina
-h converb	-i form	-k converb	-in(n)uh converb	-innuk converb	infinitive	indefinite participle
						V-focus	N-focus
cátah	cáti	cátak	catínnuh	catínnuk	catíyya	catináanih	catináan
Compound tenses past perfect affirmative perfective + perfective of én or sugé present perfect affirmative perfective + imperfective of én future perfect affirmative perfective + prospective of sugé past progressive -k converb + imperfective of én or sugé present progressive affirmative imperfect + imperfective of én future progressive -k converb + prospective of sugé immediate future affirmative conjunctive I + imperfective of wée imperfect potential I affirmative conjunctive I + imperfective of takké imperfect potential II affirmative imperfective + -m + takké negative caté + imperfective of wée + -m + takké perfect potential affirmative perfective + -m + takké negative caté + perfective of wée + -m + takké present conditional II affirmative imperfective + object pronoun + tekkék negative caté + perfective of wée + object pronoun + tekkék perfect conditional affirmative perfective + imperfective of sugé + -k negative perfective + sugé + imperfective of wée -k irrealis caté + perfective of xaaxé or raaré

Derived terms

• cató

References

• E. M. Parker; R. J. Hayward (1985), “cate”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN

Asturian

Verb

cate

1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of catar

Galician

Verb

cate

1. inflection of catar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Khumi Chin

Alternative forms

• chauteh (Khimi Chin)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sa˥.te˧/

Verb

cate

1. (transitive) to eat

References

• K. E. Herr (2011), The phonological interpretation of minor syllables, applied to Lemi Chin‎, Payap University, page 86

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈka.tɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkaː.te]

Adjective

cate

1. vocative masculine singular of catus

References

• “cate”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “cate”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “cate”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Middle English

Noun

cate

1. (hapax legomenon) alternative form of gate (“gate”)

References

• “grete-cate”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ati

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈka.t͡ʃi/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈka.t͡ʃi/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈka.te/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈka.tɨ/

• Hyphenation: ca‧te

Verb

cate

1. inflection of catar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkate/ [ˈka.t̪e]
• Rhymes: -ate
• Syllabification: ca‧te

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Caló caté (“stick”), from Sanskrit काष्ठ (kāṣṭha, “wood”).

Noun

cate m (plural cates)

1. smack; slap
2. fail (in an exam)

Etymology 2

Verb

cate

1. inflection of catar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “cate”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025