Date, n. [F. datte, L. dactylus, fr. Gr. �, prob. not the same word as δάκτυλοσ finger, but of Semitic origin.] (Bot.) The fruit of the date palm; also, the date palm itself.
☞ This fruit is somewhat in the shape of an olive, containing a soft pulp, sweet, esculent, and wholesome, and inclosing a hard kernel.
Date palm, orDate tree(Bot.), the genus of palms which bear dates, of which common species is Phœnix dactylifera. See Illust. — Date plum(Bot.), the fruit of several species of Diospyros, including the American and Japanese persimmons, and the European lotus (D. Lotus). — Date shell, orDate fish(Zoöl.), a bivalve shell, or its inhabitant, of the genus Pholas, and allied genera. See Pholas.