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ovate

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ovate¹

  • /ˈəʊ.veɪt/ UK
  • /ˈoʊ.veɪt/ US
  • /ˈəʉ.væɪt/ Australia

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Latin ōvātus, from ōvum (“an egg”) + -ātus; see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (noun-forming suffix).

adjective more ovate · most ovate

  1. Shaped like an egg. The Geese, Anserinæ, have the body ovate, the head small, the bill stout and somewhat conical; the legs rather long; the wings of great length and breadth.
  2. of leaves With the broadest extremity near the base.

Similar: egg-shaped, ovoid

noun ovates

  1. An egg-shaped hand axe. Slightly derived handaxes from the Mildenhall glaciofluvial sands, generally in fresh condition and dominated by ovates and cordates.

ovate²

  • /ˈəʊ.veɪt/ UK
  • /ˈoʊ.veɪt/ US
  • /ˈəʉ.væɪt/ Australia

Where it comes from

Ultimately from a Celtic language, see Proto-Celtic *wātis.

noun ovates

  1. An Irish bard.
  2. A member at a certain grade of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, a neo-druidism order based in England.
  3. A modern-day bard of a gorsedd, especially one acknowledged at an eisteddfod.

ovate³

  • /ˈəʊ.veɪt/ UK
  • /ˈoʊ.veɪt/ US
  • /ˈəʉ.væɪt/ Australia

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Latin ovātus, perfect passive participle of ovō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

verb ovates · ovating · ovated

  1. rare, transitive To give someone an ovation.
  2. intransitive, rare To applaud enthusiastically.

Thesaurus

adjective

Similar: egg-shaped, ovoid

Translations

Every language

adj botany, of leaves: broadest near the base

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MLA

"ovate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ovate. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

ovate. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ovate

Chicago

"ovate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ovate.

BibTeX
@misc{ovate_2026,
  title = {ovate},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ovate},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}