Expression: "to date from"

[Golland]

English Language Proficiency Tests, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #78 "GMAT Verbal Quiz", question 3

You can easily tell that this document ......... from the 12th century because of a distinctive script.

(a) holds
(b) trails
(c) lasts
(d) dates

English Language Proficiency Tests, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #78 "GMAT Verbal Quiz", answer 3

You can easily tell that this document dates from the 12th century because of a distinctive script.

Correct answer: (d) dates
_________________________

What is the answer and why?

Golland

[Mister Micawber]

.
To date from = to originate in or come from a specific time in the past.

My fear of spiders dates from my first reading of The Hobbit.
The Mona Lisa dates from the early 1500s.
_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mister Micawber

[nessie]

So is "to date from" synonymous with "to date back to"?

[Mister Micawber]

.
Yes.
.
_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mister Micawber