age
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /eɪd͡ʒ/
rhymes: -eɪdʒ
Forms: form: ages
form: aging
form: ageing
form: aged
form: aged
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.
The verb is from Middle English agen, from the noun. Originally found mostly as a participial adjective, probably an adjective in -ed, derived from the noun, reanalyzed to create a verb; perhaps modeled on such pairs as Latin senēscō (seneō; verb) / senex (adjective) and Middle French vieillir (verb) / vieil (adjective). Also compare Old French se aagier, eogier (“become of age”).
Senses: examples: text: He grew fat as he aged.
text: I am aging; that is, I have a whitish, or rather a light-coloured, hair here and there. Sober thinking brings them
ref: 1824, Walter Savage Landor, Imaginary Conversations:
text: However, if you have the misfortune of being a child actor born on the show, watch out. […] The point is these kids age quickly.
ref: 1998, Joe Malarkey, “Soap Operas”, in It’s Not the Fall That Kills You: Laughing All the Way to That Sudden Stop at the End, Latent Print, →ISBN, pages 123–124:
text: 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.
ref: 2013 July–August, Stephen P. Lownie, David M. Pelz, “Stents to Prevent Stroke”, in American Scientist:
text: “Most of the scribes here came after the Rending. Many of them stopped casting the spells that prolong their life, so they are aging. More slowly than humans, but still aging.” / “How old are you?” / “Biologically?” He smiled. “Around thirty. But I’ve lived for over four hundred years.”
ref: 2013 October 12, Elizabeth Hunter, chapter 9, in The Scribe (Irin Chronicles; 1), Recurve Press, →ISBN:
glosses: To grow aged; to become old or older; to show marks of age.
examples: text: His prediction that we didn't stand a chance hasn't aged well, now that we've won the cup.
text: The sitcom was made in the 1970s and its casual sexism has not aged well.
glosses: To grow aged; to become old or older; to show marks of age.
To suffer the passage of time so as to later be viewed or turn out in a certain way.
qualifier: prediction
raw_tags: of a statement
examples: text: Grief ages us.
text: To look at the hair by itself you'd say it was actually quite pretty, but on her head the gray sure ages her.
ref: 1998 Fall, Mare Freed, “Aluhana”, in The Antioch Review, volume 56, number 4:
glosses: To cause to grow old; to impart the characteristics of age to.
examples: text: We age the whiskey for five years.
glosses: To cause to grow old; to impart the characteristics of age to.
To allow to mature.
examples: text: This clock is modern, but it has been deliberately aged in an attempt to make it seem antique.
glosses: To cause to grow old; to impart the characteristics of age to.
To treat or tamper with in order to give a false appearance of age.
examples: text: There are several ways to age trees.
glosses: To determine the age of (the length of time that something has been alive or in existence).
examples: text: I clearly remember hearing the news of Kennedy's assassination. That ages me.
text: 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?
ref: 1992 June 14, This Week with David Brinkley (television production), spoken by [James?] Carville, via ABC:
glosses: To indicate or reveal that (a person) has been alive for a certain period of time, especially a long one.
examples: text: Money's a little tight right now. Let's age our bills for a week or so.
glosses: To allow (something) to persist by postponing an action that would extinguish it, as a debt.
examples: text: One his first assignments was to age the accounts receivable.
topics: accounting
business
finance
glosses: To categorize by age.
Synonyms: sense: cause to grow old
word: mature
word: make older
sense: grow aged
word: elden
word: to age
word: age
word: eld
word: date
word: get on
word: grow up
word: obsolesce
word: olden
word: season
word: senesce
word: superannuate
word: upgrow
Hypernyms: word: develop
word: progress
Hyponyms: word: adult
word: go bad
word: ripen
word: wrinkle
Derived terms: ageable
age in place
age like a fine wine
age like fine wine
age like milk
age like vinegar
age like wine
age out
age up
ageworthy
deage
preage
Related terms: word: age on Wikiquote
word: decay
word: wither
word: go by the wayside
word: go the way of the dinosaurs
word: go the way of the dodo
word: go the way of the dodo bird
word: make older