in loanwords from Latin, as adjectives (literate; passionate), nouns (candidate; prelate), and esp. past participles of verbs, which in English may function as verbs or adjectives (consecrate; considerate; translate); now used also as a verb-forming suffix in English (calibrate; hyphenate)....
a suffix occurring orig. in nouns borrowed from Latin that denote offices or functions (consulate; triumvirate), as well as institutions or collective bodies (electorate; senate); sometimes extended to denote a person who exercises such a function (magistrate; potentate), an associated place (consu...