What does skate mean?
Skate has several related meanings and can refer to a person or thing that glides, a fish, or the activity itself. Most commonly today, it is a verb meaning to move across ice using skates, or to ride a skateboard. The noun can mean an ice-skating shoe, a skateboard, or, less frequently, a broad-bodied fish of the ray family. In British and American usage, 'skate on ice' and 'skate around a rink' are natural constructions, while 'skateboarding' clearly identifies the board-based activity. The word carries no strong positive or negative connotation, although the phrase 'skate on thin ice' warns about taking risks in a precarious situation. The combination of a common sport, an everyday object, and an animal name makes skate unusually versatile in ordinary English.
A shoe or boot fitted with a blade for gliding on ice; a skateboard; or a ray-like fish with broad, flat fins.
"The skater tightened the straps on her ice skate."
The fish sense is traditionally treated as the principal dictionary sense in some references, but in contemporary everyday usage the sporting senses are generally more frequent.
To move by gliding on ice skates or a skateboard.
"They skated along the promenade until the rain began."
The verb is commonly followed by on, around, or through, depending on the route or context.
Used for multiple pieces of ice-skating footwear, multiple skateboards, or multiple ray-like fishes.
"A pair of skates was waiting beside the rink."
A skate can be a fish, a blade for gliding across ice, or a board for cruising down city streets.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does skate come from?
The English sporting word developed in the Middle English period and is associated with forms found in Dutch and other northern European languages, including Middle Dutch scate and Dutch schaatsen. The modern German word Schlittschuh belongs to the same broad sporting tradition of a shoe used for gliding on ice. The separate fish sense comes through Old North French esc and ultimately relates to Latin and Greek vocabulary for rays and similar fishes, though the exact historical path is less certain. The old English form scate reflects earlier stages of the word.
Related word forms
How skate is actually used
In British and American English, the sporting verb normally takes the preposition on or around, as in 'skate on the ice' or 'skate around the rink.' The noun meaning a ray is less common in everyday speech than the sporting senses.
Easily confused with skate
A slate is a thin, flat piece of stone or a roofing material, whereas a skate is either a ray-like fish, an ice-skating shoe, or a skateboard.