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to foredate

to foredate

9.1
Put an earlier day on a document than its real one
  • verb
  • /ˈfɔːrˌdeɪt/
  • Formal
translation icon : anteceder
  • Some historians foredate the origins of the castle to the tenth century.

Examples

  • The document was deliberately foredated to mislead the investigators.

  • They attempted to foredate the contract to gain an unfair advantage.

  • They foredate the contract to last year.

  • The historian foredated the document by several decades.

  • Some historians foredate the origins of the castle to the tenth century.

  • The historian foredated the document by several decades.

  • They attempted to foredate the contract to gain an unfair advantage.

Synonyms

to date back
vsto foredate
95 3.0

To come from an earlier time

focuses on recording an earlier date instead of just stating origin time
to predate
vsto foredate
41 5.8

To exist or happen before another thing

involves actively giving an earlier official date rather than mere earlier occurrence
to date from
vsto foredate
18 3.4

To exist since a certain time in the past

means assigning an earlier date to something rather than only noting its origin
to preexist
vsto foredate
11 6.9

To be present before a certain time or event

specifically involves assigning an earlier date rather than simply existing earlier
to forego
vsto foredate
  • Archaic
1 7.2

To come before something in time

adds the idea of formally assigning an earlier date, not just preceding
to antedate
vsto foredate
1 8.7

To happen before another event or to put an earlier date on something

is focused on setting an earlier date rather than only occurring earlier
to outdate
vsto foredate
5.6

To be older than another thing in time

centres on deliberately recording an earlier date rather than just being older
to forerun
vsto foredate
6.7

To come before and show what will happen next

is about officially setting an earlier date rather than signaling what comes next

Antonyms

1 6.5

To say that something happened after another event

Surface Forms

foredate infinitive
foredated past
foredated past participle
foredating present participle
foredates third person singular

Morphology

foredate = date (transparent) = fore + date

The productive prefix 'fore-' (meaning 'before') combined with the verb 'date' (to mark with a date) yields the clear meaning 'to assign an earlier date'.

Etymology

Foredate comes from the parts fore- meaning 'before' (as in forecast) and date meaning 'day' or 'time'. So to foredate something is to give it an earlier date than it really has, or to say it happened before the true time.