date back
idiom
: to have come into being (a number of years ago)
a custom that dates back 400 years
Examples of date back in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Popular in Hong Kong for over a century, the technique’s origins in Chinese construction date back to at least the Han dynasty, around 2,000 years ago.
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Karina Tsui, CNN Money, 10 Sep. 2025
More than 350 Greenlandic Indigenous women and girls, including some 12 years old and younger, reported that they were forcibly given contraception by Danish health authorities in cases that date back to the 1960s, according to an independent investigation’s findings released Tuesday.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 9 Sep. 2025
His convictions in the county date back almost 40 years, starting with a burglary in 1986.
—Chris Spargo, People.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Jacqueline Burnett and David Schultz’s extraordinary careers at Hubbard Street date back to 2009.
—Lauren Warnecke, Chicago Tribune, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for date back
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Karina Tsui, CNN Money, 10 Sep. 2025
More than 350 Greenlandic Indigenous women and girls, including some 12 years old and younger, reported that they were forcibly given contraception by Danish health authorities in cases that date back to the 1960s, according to an independent investigation’s findings released Tuesday.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 9 Sep. 2025
His convictions in the county date back almost 40 years, starting with a burglary in 1986.
—Chris Spargo, People.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Jacqueline Burnett and David Schultz’s extraordinary careers at Hubbard Street date back to 2009.
—Lauren Warnecke, Chicago Tribune, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for date back
Cite this Entry
“Date back.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/date%20back. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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