The word date was allegedly coined in 1896, by a forlorn lover. According to Moira Weigels book, Labor of Love: The Invention of Dating, the word date first popped up in a newspaper column in which a heartbroken clerk named Artie wrote that the object of his affections was seeing other people.

How did the word date originate?

The word for the time of an event comes to us from Latin, but the Latin word did not mean either day or time. Date derives from the Latin phrase data Romae, meaning given at Rome, an expression used just before the date on letters and documents.