"that which is formed by or results from leaching," 1920, from leach + -ate (1). The older noun was simply leach.
Entries linking to leachate
leach v.
"wash or drain by percolation of water, treat by downward drainage," by 1660s in cookery, perhaps from a dialectal survival from Old English leccan "to moisten, water, wet, irrigate," which, under Norse influence, became leak (v.). The word was used 18c. in technological senses, such as leach-trough, a device used in salt-works in which corns of salt taken from brine were set to drain dry, after which they were called leach-brine. Related: Leached; leaching. Hence leach (n.) "a preparation made by leaching or straining" (1630s), in later use especially "a separation of lye or alkali in solution."
-ate 1
word-forming element used in forming nouns from Latin words ending in -atus, -atum (such as estate, primate, senate). Those that came to English via French often arrived with -at, but an -e was added after c. 1400 to indicate the long vowel. The suffix also can mark adjectives formed from Latin past participles in -atus, -ata (such as desolate, moderate, separate); again, they often were adopted in Middle English as -at, with an -e appended after c. 1400.