different between prey vs predate

English

Etymology

From Middle English preye, prei, prey?e, borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Old French preie, one of the variants of proie, from Latin praeda. Compare predator.

Pronunciation

• enPR: pr?, IPA^(key): /p?e?/
• Rhymes: -e?
• Homophone: pray

Noun

prey (countable and uncountable, plural preys)

1. (archaic) Anything, such as goods, etc., taken or got by violence; something taken by force from an enemy in war

   Synonyms: spoil, booty, plunder
2. That which is or may be seized by animals or birds to be devoured

   • Already sees herself the monster's prey.

3. A person or thing given up as a victim.
4. A living thing that is eaten by another living thing.

5. (archaic) The act of devouring other creatures; ravage.
6. The victim of a disease.

Translations

Verb

prey (third-person singular simple present preys, present participle preying, simple past and past participle preyed)

1. (intransitive) To act as a predator.
   • 2001, Karen Harden McCracken, The Life History of a Texas Birdwatcher (page 278)

     The ridge had been a haven for birds and small earth creatures, creeping, crawling, and hopping in a little world of balanced ecology where wild things preyed and were preyed upon […]

Related terms

• prey on

References

• prey in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• pyre, rype

English

Etymology 1

From pre- +? date

Alternative forms

• pre-date

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p?i??de?t/, /?p?i??de?t/

Verb

predate (third-person singular simple present predates, present participle predating, simple past and past participle predated)

1. To designate a date earlier than the actual one; to move a date, appointment, event, or period of time to an earlier point (contrast "postdate".)
2. (transitive) To exist or to occur before something else; to antedate.

Synonyms

• (to designate a date earlier): antedate, backdate, foredate; see also Thesaurus:backdate
• (to occur before something else): antedate; see also Thesaurus:predate

Antonyms

• (to designate a date earlier): overdate, postdate; see also Thesaurus:overdate
• (to occur before something else): postdate

Translations

Noun

predate (plural predates)

1. A publication, such as a newspaper or magazine, that is issued with a printed date later than the date of issue.

Etymology 2

Back-formation from predation or predator.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /p???de?t/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /p???de?t/

Verb

predate (third-person singular simple present predates, present participle predating, simple past and past participle predated)

1. To prey upon something.

Synonyms

• (to prey upon): prey

Related terms

• predation
• depredation
• predator

Translations

References

• predate at OneLook Dictionary Search
• predate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• adepter, pad-tree, readept, red tape, redtape, retaped, tapered

Italian

Verb

predate

1. second-person plural present indicative of predare
2. second-person plural imperative of predare
3. feminine plural of predato