French word

datation

Pronunciation

IPA/datasjɔ̃/

Meaning

  • feminine noundating

Example

La datation au carbone a confirmé l'âge du fossile.

Carbon dating confirmed the age of the fossil.

Illustration for datation (dating)

More examples

Une erreur de datation peut modifier l'interprétation historique d'un objet.

A dating error can alter the historical interpretation of an object.

Core concept

One act of fixing a point in time, on a document or in an object's history.

Common phrases

  • erreur de datation

    dating error

  • méthode de datation

    dating method

Similar words

date: The year, month, and day shown on a calendar.
âge: The number of years a person or thing has existed.
chronologie: The recorded order in which events occurred.

Definition in French

Action d'inscrire une date sur un document ou d'indiquer une date, et, au sens technique, procédure visant à déterminer l'âge d'un objet.

Word origin

Datation is formed from the French verb dater and the noun-forming suffix -ation, a pattern that names an action or procedure.

Usage tips

  • Everyday French usually uses date or mettre la date for writing a date, while datation belongs more often to technical or formal contexts.

Related words

  • datedatenoun
  • databledatableadjective

Word lists with this word