age definition

English age definition

Etymology

From Middle English age, Old French aage, eage, edage, from an assumed Vulgar Latin *aetāticum, derived from Latin aetātem, itself derived from aevum (“lifetime”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- (“vital force”). Compare French âge.

Displaced native Old English ieldu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eɪd͡ʒ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪdʒ

Noun

age (countable and uncountable, plural ages)

1. (countable) The whole duration of a being, whether human, animal, plant, or other kind, being alive.
2. (countable) The number of full years, months, days, hours, etc., that someone, or something, has been alive.
   • 2013 July 1, Peter Wilby, “Finland’s education ambassador spreads the word”, in The Guardian‎^[1], London, archived from the original on 16 July 2017; republished as “Finland spreads word on schools”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, London, 2013 July 19, page 30:

     Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting.

3. (countable) One of the stages of life.

   the age of infancy

4. (countable) The time of life at which some particular power or capacity is understood to become vested.

   the age of consent; the age of discretion

5. (countable) A particular period of time in history, as distinguished from others.

   the golden age; the age of Pericles

   • 1970, Jim Theis, “The Eye of Argon”, in OSFAN‎^[2], volume 10, Chapter 3½, page 33:

     Encircling the marble altar was a congregation of leering shamen. Eerie chants of a bygone age, originating unknown eons before the memory of man, were being uttered from the buried recesses of the acolytes' deep lings ^[sic].

   • 2013 August 3, “Yesterday’s fuel: The world’s thirst for oil could be nearing a peak. That is bad news for producers, excellent for everyone else.”, in The Economist‎^[3], volume 408, number 8847, archived from the original on 1 August 2013:

     The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices). It was used to make kerosene, the main fuel for artificial lighting after overfishing led to a shortage of whale blubber.

6. (countable) A great period in the history of the Earth.

   the Bronze Age was followed by the Iron Age; the Tithonian Age was the last in the Late Jurassic epoch

7. (astrology) One of the twelve divisions of a Great Year, equal to roughly 2000 years and goverened by one of the zodiacal signs; a Platonic month.
   • 1911 April 10, The Evening News, Sydney, page 8, column 2:

     Mr Lewis says we are living in the age of Aquarius, which means that the world is at present passing through the zodiacal sign of Aquarius, the airy constellation.

8. (countable) A period of one hundred years; a century.
9. (countable) The people who live during a particular period.
10. (countable) A generation.

    There are three ages living in her house.

11. (countable, hyperbolic) A long time.

    It’s been an age since we last saw you.

13. (countable, geology) The shortest geochronologic unit, being a period of thousands to millions of years; a subdivision of an epoch (or sometimes a subepoch).
14. (countable, poker) The right of the player to the left of the dealer to pass the first round in betting, and then to come in last or stay out; also, the player holding this position; the eldest hand.
15. (uncountable) That part of the duration of a being or a thing which is between its beginning and any given time; specifically the size of that part.

    What is the present age of a man, or of the earth?

16. (uncountable) Mature age; especially, the time of life at which one attains full personal rights and capacities.

    to come of age; she is now of age

17. (uncountable) An advanced period of life; the latter part of life; the state of being old, old age, senility; seniority.
    • 1936 Feb. 15, Ernest Hemingway, letter to Maxwell Perkins:

      Feel awfully about Scott... It was a terrible thing for him to love youth so much that he jumped straight from youth to senility without going through manhood. The minute he felt youth going he was frightened again and thought there was nothing between youth and age.

    Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age, sometimes age just shows up all by itself.

Synonyms

• (duration of a life): lifespan, lifetime
• (period (in years or otherwise) something has been alive): eld
• (particular period of time): epoch, time; see also Thesaurus:era
• (period of one hundred years): centennium, yearhundred
• (long time): eternity, yonks; see also Thesaurus:eon
• (latter part of life): dotage, old age, eld; see also Thesaurus:old age

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

age (third-person singular simple present ages, present participle ageing or (US) aging, simple past and past participle aged)

1. (intransitive) To grow aged; to become old; to show marks of age.

   He grew fat as he aged.

   • 1824, Walter Savage Landor, Imaginary Conversations:

     I am aging; that is, I have a whitish, or rather a light-coloured, hair here and there. Sober thinking brings them

   • 2013 July-August, Stephen P. Lownie, David M. Pelz, “Stents to Prevent Stroke”, in American Scientist:

     As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels. The reason plaque forms isn’t entirely known, but it seems to be related to high levels of cholesterol inducing an inflammatory response, which can also attract and trap more cellular debris over time.

2. (intransitive, informal, of a statement, prediction) To be viewed or turn out in some way after a certain time has passed.

   His prediction that we didn't stand a chance hasn't aged well, now that we've won the cup.

3. (transitive) To cause to grow old; to impart the characteristics of age to.

   Grief ages us.

4. (transitive, figuratively) To postpone an action that would extinguish something, as a debt.

   Money's a little tight right now, let's age our bills for a week or so.

5. (transitive, accounting) To categorize by age.

   One his first assignments was to age the accounts receivable.

6. (transitive) To indicate that a person has been alive for a certain period of time, especially a long one.
   • 1992 June 14, This Week with David Brinkley (television production), spoken by [James?] Carville, via ABC:

     Mr. [David] Brinkley started out with network news. We got our news- I think it was the Huntley-Brinkley Report. I'm probably aging myself now, okay?

   • 1998 Fall, Mare Freed, “Aluhana”, in The Antioch Review, volume 56, number 4:

     To look at the hair by itself you'd say it was actually quite pretty, but on her head the gray sure ages her.

Synonyms

• (cause to grow old): mature; see also Thesaurus:make older
• (grow aged): elden; see also Thesaurus:to age

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• age on Wikiquote.Wikiquote
• Appendix:Age by decade

Further reading

• “age”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “age”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• EGA, Ega, G. E. A.

Danish age definition

Etymology

From Old Norse aka (“to drive”), from Proto-Germanic *akaną, cognate with Swedish åka. The verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti, which is also the source of Latin agō (whence also Danish agere), Ancient Greek ἄγω (ágō).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aːɣə/, [ˈæːjə], [ˈæːæ]
• Homophone: ae

Verb

age (past tense agede, past participle aget)

1. (intransitive, dated) to drive (in a vehicle)
2. (transitive, obsolete) to drive (a vehicle), transport

Conjugation

Further reading

• “age” in Den Danske Ordbog

French age definition

Etymology

Ca. 1800, from a dialectal (southern Oïl or Franco-Provençal) form of haie, from Frankish *haggju. Cognate with English hedge, which see for more.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aʒ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aʒ
• Homophones: ages (general), âge, âges (some speakers)

Noun

age m (plural ages)

1. beam (central bar of a plough)
2. shaft

Further reading

• “age”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Irish age definition

Alternative forms

• aige

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ˈɛɡə/

Preposition

age

1. Munster form of ag (used before a possessive determiner)
   • 1939, Peig Sayers, “Inghean an Cheannaidhe”, in Marie-Louise Sjoestedt, Description d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Études; 270) (overall work in French), Paris: Librairie Honoré Champion, page 193:

     Ní raibh aoinne cloinne age n-a muinntir ach í agus do mhéaduigh sin uirrim agus grádh na ndaoine don inghean óg so.

     Her parents had no children but her, and that increased the esteem and love of the people for this young girl.

Japanese age definition

Romanization

age

1. Rōmaji transcription of あげ

Kott age definition

Etymology

From Proto-Yeniseian *ʔaqV (“to make sour, to rot”). Compare Assan bar-ak (“rotten”) and Arin bar-oje (“rotten”).

Adjective

age

1. rotten

Related terms

• b-āge-jaŋ
• d́āgejaŋ

Latin age definition

Etymology

Imperative form of agō

Interjection

age

1. well now, well then, come now (transition)
2. very well, good, right (sign of affirmation)

Verb

age

1. second-person singular present active imperative of agō

Mapudungun age definition

Noun

age (Raguileo spelling)

1. (anatomy) face

References

• Wixaleyiñ: Mapucezugun-wigkazugun pici hemvlcijka (Wixaleyiñ: Small Mapudungun-Spanish dictionary), Beretta, Marta; Cañumil, Dario; Cañumil, Tulio, 2008.

Middle English age definition

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old French aage, from Vulgar Latin *aetāticum, derived from Latin aetātem.

Alternative forms

• aage, ayge (both rare)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaːd͡ʒ(ə)/

Noun

age (plural ages)

1. The age of someone (or rarely something); how old someone is.
2. The correct or traditional age for something (especially the age of maturity)
3. Old age or senescence; the state of being old or elderly.
4. The life of something or someone; an extent of existence.
5. A period or portion of time; an age, epoch, or era.
6. Time (as an abstract concept); the passing of time.
7. (rare, in every age) A person or individual who is a particular age.

Related terms

• agen

Descendants

• English: age
• Scots: age

References

• “āǧe, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-01-19.

Etymology 2

Noun

age

1. Alternative form of awe

Norwegian Nynorsk age definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²ɑː.jə/, /²ɑː.ɡə/

Etymology 1

From Old Norse agi, from Proto-Germanic *agaz. Cognates include English awe.

Alternative forms

• aga, agje, ågå

Noun

age m (definite singular agen, indefinite plural agar, definite plural agane)

1. awe
2. deference
3. esteem, reverence

Etymology 2

From Old Norse aga.

Alternative forms

• aga

Verb

age (present tense agar, past tense aga, past participle aga, passive infinitive agast, present participle agande, imperative age/ag)

1. to chastise, subdue
2. to impress
3. to agitate
4. to scare

References

• “age” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
• Ivar Aasen (1850), “aga”, in Ordbog over det norske Folkesprog, Oslo: Samlaget, published 2000
• Ivar Aasen (1850), “Agje”, in Ordbog over det norske Folkesprog, Oslo: Samlaget, published 2000

Anagrams

• ega

Old Frisian age definition

Alternative forms

• āg

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *augā, from Proto-Germanic *augô, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- (“eye, to see”). Cognates include Old English ēage, Old Saxon ōga and Old Dutch ōga.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaːɣe/

Noun

āge n

1. (anatomy) eye

Inflection

Declension of āge (neuter n-stem)
	singular	plural
nominative	āge	āgene, āgne
genitive	āga	āgana, āgena
dative	āga	āgum, āgem āgenum, āgenem
accusative	āge	āgene, āgne

Descendants

• North Frisian:

  Most dialects: uug

  Goesharde: uug, uuch

  Halligen: uuch

  Heligoland: Oog

  Sylt: Oog

• Saterland Frisian: Oge
• West Frisian: each

References

• Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN

Portuguese age definition

Verb

age

1. inflection of agir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Scots age definition

Etymology

From Middle English age, from Old French aage, eage, from Vulgar Latin *aetāticum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ed͡ʒ/

Noun

age (plural ages)

1. age

Verb

age (third-person singular simple present ages, present participle agin, simple past aged, past participle aged)

1. to age

References

• “age, n.” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.
• Eagle, Andy, ed. (2016) The Online Scots Dictionary, Scots Online.

Spanish age definition

Verb

age

1. inflection of agir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Ternate age definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈa.ɡe]

Noun

age

1. the trunk of a tree, tree trunk
2. levee, embankment

References

• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

Yoruba age definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /à.ɡé/

Noun

àgé

1. kettle

   Synonym: kẹ́tùrù