Antidate

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To establish a time frame for something that happened beforehand; to designate an earlier date for a record than the one it truly bears; to attribute a chronological precedence to an occurrence or document that is not accurate in time sequence
2. To mark a document with a date set before the actual time ; to happen or take place earlier than a specific date
3. To give an earlier date to a paper than when it was created ; to precede a stated or known date in time

Etymology: The verb "antidate" is built from the prefix "anti-", meaning "before" or "prior to", and "date," which comes into English from medieval Latin "data," the feminine past participle of "dare," meaning "to give." The sense of a date as a point in time came through Italian "data" and French "date," so the earliest English uses referred to the datum or written statement of when something was given or made. The compound was formed in English on that basis, with "anti-" used in its older sense of "before" rather than its more familiar sense of "against." That older sense is the surprising part. Most English words beginning with "anti-" mean "opposed to," as in "antibody" or "antiwar," so "antidate" can look like it means the opposite of dating something. Instead it borrows the Greek meaning "before," which also survives in "antedate," the more common spelling of the same verb. Both forms are in use, and "antedate" is generally the one standard dictionaries list first.

Synonyms: predate, precede

Antonyms: postdate