The Collaborative International Dictionary
Date \Date\, n.[F. datte, L. dactylus, fr. Gr. ?, prob. not the same word as da`ktylos finger, but of Semitic origin.] (Bot.) The fruit of the date palm; also, the date palm itself.
Note: 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, or Date tree (Bot.), the genus of palms which bear dates, of which common species is Ph[oe]nix dactylifera. See Illust.
Date plum (Bot.), the fruit of several species of Diospyros, including the American and Japanese persimmons, and the European lotus ( Diospyros Lotus).
Date shell, or Date fish (Zo["o]l.), a bivalve shell, or its inhabitant, of the genus Pholas, and allied gener
See Pholas.
Wiktionary
n. A bivalve shell, or its inhabitant, of the genus ''Pholas'', and allied genera.