the.com/cate
A fancy old word for a treat, now mostly surviving as a name.
means A delicacy or choice bit of food, especially a fancy pastry or treat — a word 16th-century menus loved and modern menus forgot.
from Cate comes from Middle English 'cates,' which was actually a back-formation from 'acate,' meaning provisions or purchased food — itself from Old French 'acat,' bought goods, rooted in the Latin 'ad-' plus 'captare,' to catch or seize. So people heard 'a cate' and assumed 'cate' was the real word, quietly dropping the 'a.' It once meant any purchased delicacy, the good stuff you buy rather than grow, before narrowing to sweets and treats and finally fading into the name Cate.
- origin
- from acate, meaning purchased provision
- usage
- archaic noun for a delicacy or dainty food
- modern life
- survives mainly as a shortened Catherine
- plural form
- cates meant fine foods or delicacies