Gated

How to spell gated

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce gated

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does gated mean?

1. adjectiveEnclosed or protected by gates that control who can enter.
2. verbPast tense of gate: fitted with or controlled by a gate, or confined as a punishment.

Gated in a sentence

• adjective

  They bought a house in a gated community on the edge of town.

• verb

  The engineers gated the reservoir to manage the water flow.

• adjective

  The gated car park requires a pass code for entry.

• verb

  The boarding school once gated pupils who broke the rules.

Where does gated come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows from the noun 'gate', which descends from the Old English 'geat', meaning an opening in a wall or fence, or the movable barrier that closes such an opening. That noun has cousins across the Germanic languages, including the Old Norse 'gat', meaning a hole or passage. The verb 'to gate', meaning to fit or control with a gate, and its adjective form 'gated', meaning enclosed or guarded by gates, developed naturally from the noun. The modern sense of a 'gated community', a residential area sealed off behind controlled entrances, became common in the late twentieth century. Because the root vowel is a long 'a' said as 'ay', the spelling stays regular: gate plus -ed, with no doubling of the t.

How the word is built

• gate (Old English geat: an opening or barrier)
• -ed (adjective/past-tense suffix)