What does foredating mean?
Foredating is a verb for describing what happens when a romantic relationship begins before either person publicly or formally treats it as a relationship. It often captures the informal, exploratory stage in which people spend time together, meet each other's friends, or discuss their feelings without yet using the label “dating.” The word can also have the more general meaning of assigning an earlier date to something than its actual date, especially a document, event, or historical occurrence; in this use it overlaps with “backdating” but does not inherently imply falsification. Foredating is neutral to mildly informal in modern relationship talk and is more specialized than the broader “dating.” It is useful when the timing of a relationship's beginning matters, while “courting,” “seeing someone,” and “hooking up” can each suggest different kinds or levels of involvement.
verbTo begin a romantic relationship before it is formally or publicly acknowledged; also, to assign an earlier date to something than its actual date.
- Beginning a romantic relationship before the couple formally or publicly describes it as a relationship.
- Assigning an earlier date to something than the date on which it actually occurred or was created.
"They spent several months foredating before agreeing to describe themselves as a couple."
"We kept foredating for months before deciding that we were officially together."
"Editors must not foredate the report to a day before the relevant data were available."
Foredating names the chapter of a relationship that comes before the relationship gets its official label.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does foredating come from?
The verb was formed in English by combining the prefix fore- with date. In the older, general sense, fore- indicates that the assigned date comes before the thing's actual date. Date itself comes through Old French from Latin datum, meaning “given” or “that which is given,” a root also preserved in datum.
Related word forms
How foredating is actually used
The romantic-relationship sense is contemporary and usually informal. The broader sense of dating something before its actual date is more formal and overlaps with backdating, although it does not inherently imply falsification.
Easily confused with foredating
In relationship contexts, foredating means beginning a relationship before it is officially acknowledged, whereas backdating usually means assigning an earlier date to a document, record, or event.