Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Date \Date\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Dated}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Dating}.] [Cf. F. dater. See 2d {Date}.]
   1. To note the time of writing or executing; to express in an
      instrument the time of its execution; as, to date a
      letter, a bond, a deed, or a charter.

   2. To note or fix the time of, as of an event; to give the
      date of; as, to date the building of the pyramids.

   Note: We may say dated at or from a place.

               The letter is dated at Philadephia. --G. T.
                                                  Curtis.

               You will be suprised, I don't question, to find
               among your correspondencies in foreign parts, a
               letter dated from Blois.           --Addison.

               In the countries of his jornal seems to have been
               written; parts of it are dated from them. --M.
                                                  Arnold.

Date \Date\, n. [F. date, LL. data, fr. L. datus given, p. p. of
   dare to give; akin to Gr. ?, OSlaw. dati, Skr. d[=a]. Cf.
   {Datum}, Dose, {Dato}, {Die}.]
   1. That addition to a writing, inscription, coin, etc., which
      specifies the time (as day, month, and year) when the
      writing or inscription was given, or executed, or made;
      as, the date of a letter, of a will, of a deed, of a coin.
      etc.

            And bonds without a date, they say, are void.
                                                  --Dryden.

   2. The point of time at which a transaction or event takes
      place, or is appointed to take place; a given point of
      time; epoch; as, the date of a battle.

            He at once, Down the long series of eventful time,
            So fixed the dates of being, so disposed To every
            living soul of every kind The field of motion, and
            the hour of rest.                     --Akenside.

   3. Assigned end; conclusion. [R.]

            What Time would spare, from Steel receives its date.
                                                  --Pope.

   4. Given or assigned length of life; dyration. [Obs.]

            Good luck prolonged hath thy date.    --Spenser.

            Through his life's whole date.        --Chapman.

   {To bear date}, to have the date named on the face of it; --
      said of a writing.

Date \Date\, n.[F. datte, L. dactylus, fr. Gr. ?, prob. not the
   same word as da`ktylos finger, but of Semitic origin.] (Bot.)
   The fruit of the date palm; also, the date palm itself.

   Note: This fruit is somewhat in the shape of an olive,
         containing a soft pulp, sweet, esculent, and wholesome,
         and inclosing a hard kernel.

   {Date palm}, or {Date tree} (Bot.), the genus of palms which
      bear dates, of which common species is {Ph[oe]nix
      dactylifera}. See Illust.

   {Date plum} (Bot.), the fruit of several species of
      {Diospyros}, including the American and Japanese
      persimmons, and the European lotus ({D. Lotus}).

   {Date shell}, or {Date fish} (Zo["o]l.), a bivalve shell, or
      its inhabitant, of the genus {Pholas}, and allied genera.
      See {Pholas}.

Date \Date\, v. i.
   To have beginning; to begin; to be dated or reckoned; -- with
   from.

         The Batavian republic dates from the successes of the
         French arms.                             --E. Everett.

Source : WordNet®

date
     n 1: the specified day of the month; "what is the date today?"
          [syn: {day of the month}]
     2: a particular day specified as the time something will
        happen; "the date of the election is set by law"
     3: a meeting arranged in advance; "she asked how to avoid
        kissing at the end of a date" [syn: {appointment}, {engagement}]
     4: a particular but unspecified point in time; "they hoped to
        get together at an early date"
     5: the present; "they are up to date"; "we haven't heard from
        them to date"
     6: a participant in a date; "his date never stopped talking"
        [syn: {escort}]
     7: the particular day, month, or year (usually according to the
        Gregorian calendar) that an event occurred; "he tried to
        memorizes all the dates for his history class"
     8: sweet edible fruit of the date palm with a single long woody
        seed

date
     v 1: go on a date with; "Tonight she is dating a former high
          school sweetheart"
     2: stamp with a date; "The package is dated November 24" [syn:
        {date stamp}]
     3: assign a date to; determine the (probable) date of;
        "Scientists often cannot date precisely archeological or
        prehistorical findings"
     4: date regularly; have a steady relationship with; "Did you
        know that she is seeing an older man?"; "He is dating his
        former wife again!" [syn: {go steady}, {go out}, {see}]
     5: provide with a dateline; mark with a date; "She wrote the
        letter on Monday but she dated it Saturday so as not to
        reveal that she procrastinated"

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

date
     
         A string unique to a time duration of 24
        hours between 2 successive midnights defined by the local time
        zone.  The specific representation of a date will depend on
        which calendar convention is in force; e.g., Gregorian,
        Islamic, Japanese, Chinese, Hebrew etc. as well as local
        ordering conventions such as UK: day/month/year, US:
        month/day/year.
     
        Inputting and outputting dates on computers is greatly
        complicated by these {localisation} issues which is why they
        tend to operate on dates internally in some unified form such
        as seconds past midnight at the start of the first of January
        1970.
     
        Many software and hardware representations of dates allow only
        two digits for the year, leading to the {year 2000} problem.
     
        {Unix manual page}: date(1), ctime(3).
     
        (1997-07-11)