Etymograph

English

optate

Optate comes from Latin optātus ‘chosen, selected, having been chosen’, and goes back to optō.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoptō1‘choose, select’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoptātus2‘chosen, selected, having been chosen’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1989optate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin optatus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English optate
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1989, François Rabelais, An Epistle by Pantagruel's Limosin: “While we, alas! must still obambulate, Sequacious of the…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoptōWiktionary, Latin optatus‘choose, select’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoptātusWiktionary, English optate‘chosen, selected, having been chosen’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1989optateWiktionary, English optate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1989, François Rabelais, An Epistle by Pantagruel's Limosin: “While we, alas! must still obambulate, Sequacious of the…”

first attested First attested in 1611 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in 1611; borrowed from Latin optātus, perfect passive participle of optō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin optō ‘choose, select’

option, opt, 6 more

Today it means

verb To choose, settle on, opt.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “optate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin optatus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin optō / optate

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