# dating

Pronunciation: say "DAY-ting" /ˈdeɪt.ɪŋ/

## Noun

1. A form of romantic courtship between two people, meant to find out whether they suit each other as partners or as a future spouse.
   - Simple: Spending time with someone to see if you want a romantic relationship with them.
   - _After his divorce, he wasn't sure he was ready for dating again._
   - _Modern dating often begins online long before two people meet in person._
3. The process of working out how old something is, such as an artifact, a biological remnant, or a use of language, or the estimate that results.
   - Simple: Working out how old something is, such as a bone, a tool, or an old word.
   - _Radiocarbon dating placed the wooden tools at roughly three thousand years old._
   - _The dating of the manuscript relied on the style of its handwriting._
4. The act of fixing the day on which an event or transaction is to happen or take effect.
   - Simple: Choosing the day on which something will happen or start to count.
   - _By negotiating extended dating with its suppliers, the retailer could stock up for the holidays without paying until February._
   - _Seasonal dating lets a garden center receive its stock in winter but start the payment terms only when spring sales begin._

## Verb

2. Present participle of date, used in verb forms such as "have been dating" or "dating the bones." — present participle and gerund of date
   - Simple: Present participle of date. Use this -ing form after words like is, was, or have been.
   - _He is dating a colleague he first met at a conference._
   - _Researchers are dating the fossils with newly developed techniques._

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/dating (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).