2. To find out, or to state, the time or period when something was made: "The archeologist used the latest technology to date the recent discovery in the dig in the farmer’s field."
3. To have an origin in a particular time in the past: "Phil and Tod have family records dating back to the World War I."
4. To reveal the age of someone or something; or to make someone, or something, seem old-fashioned: "Janine's clothes date her age."
5. To go out regularly with someone as a romantic partner: "Mary and Martin dated for two years before they got married."
6. Etymology: the meaning of "time" is from about 1330, from Old French date; from Middle Latin data, noun use of feminine singular of Latin datus, "given" past participle of dare, "to give, to grant, to offer".
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 (Middle English), the case of "giving".
Dateline in the journalism sense is attested from 1888. The phrase "up to date" (1890) is from bookkeeping. Dated, "old-fashioned", is attested from 1900. Date (noun), "romantic liaison" is from 1885, gradually evolving from the general sense of "appointment"; the verb in this sense is first recorded in 1902.
Chronometric dating in archaeology and geology is also termed "absolute dating".
Today the method can provide a reliable date using a single grain of wheat.
It takes advantage of the fact that all organic materials contain mesurable amounts of radioactive carbon (Carbon 14).
At death, the radiocarbon begins to disintegrate at a known rate. By measuring the amount of radioactive carbon left, scientists can determine how long ago the organism died.
The latest versions of the technique can date objects up to 70,000 years old.
Often artifacts or sites are described as earlier or later than other artifacts or sites.