The term “ate” is the simple past for “eat”, e.g. “She ate the whole cake by herself.” The term “eaten” is the past participle used in past, present, and future perfect tenses, e.g. “The whole cake was eaten by her alone.” The simple past refers to events or periods that are finished and have no connection to the present.

uk / iːt / us / iːt / ate | eaten Add to word list A1 to put or take food into the mouth, chew it (= crush it with the teeth), and swallow it: Do you eat meat? When I've got a cold, I don't feel like eating. We usually eat (= have a meal) at about seven o'clock.