Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Cates \Cates\, n. pl. [Cf. {Acates}, and see {Cater}, n.]
   Provisions; food; viands; especially, luxurious food;
   delicacies; dainties. --Shak.

         Cates for which Apicius could not pay.   --Shurchill.

         Choicest cates and the fiagon's best spilth. --R.
                                                  Browning.