✨📕 The NEWThe NEW Collegiate Dictionary, 12th Edition Over 5,000 words added — Buy Now! Collegiate DictionaryBuy Now!

predate

1 of 2

verb (1)

pre·​date (ˌ)prē-ˈdāt How to pronounce predate (audio)
predated; predating; predates
Synonyms of predatenext

predate

2 of 2

verb (2)

pre·​date pri-ˈdāt How to pronounce predate (audio)
predated; predating; predates

transitive + intransitive

: to prey on (something or someone)
Animals predate other animals in nature, but that is hardly commensurate with a massive worldwide farming industry that breeds species purely for our purpose.Jenny Diski
Are high-profile men that sexually predate women finally starting to lose immunity?Alex McKinnon
All cats may predate but those living indoors have little opportunity to do so.Kevin Stafford
There are many species that predate on pigeons and doves.Revati

Synonyms of predate

Examples of predate in a Sentence

Verb (1) modes of transportation that predate the car the native people who predated European settlers in America
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Verb
One example of his thinking that predates the combined Intuit Foresight team—but points to Srivastava’s rationale—is his team’s critical role in one of Intuit’s new AI agents for accounting. John Kell, Fortune, 5 Dec. 2025 The third paper, led by Ann Nguyen of NASA's Johnson Space Center, analyzed dust from two different types of rock that Osiris-REx collected from Bennu, which initially came from stars that predate the solar system. Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 3 Dec. 2025 Very few of today’s displays predate the 1990s, with some being renovated over the years to either spruce them up or change their theme. Sal Pizarro, Mercury News, 2 Dec. 2025 Archaeologists digging beneath the Palace of Westminster recently unearthed priceless historic treasures – some of which even predate Stonehenge. Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 1 Dec. 2025 See All Example Sentences for predate

Word History

Etymology

Verb (2)

back-formation from predator or predatory

First Known Use

Verb (1)

1854, in the meaning defined above

Verb (2)

1941, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of predate was in 1854

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Predate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/predate. Accessed 7 Dec. 2025.

Kids Definition

predate

verb
pre·​date (ˈ)prē-ˈdāt How to pronounce predate (audio)
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!