age
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /eɪd͡ʒ/
rhymes: -eɪdʒ
Forms: form: ages
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: "What is the age of your oldest child?" — "He's ten." (ten years old)
text: What were their ages at the time of their marriage?
text: We can determine the age of fossils using radiometric dating.
text: What is the present age of the earth?
text: I have a daughter your age, and I tell her when I was your age I was already working.
text: You should play with kids the same age as you.
text: At your age, your mom and I'd already found a job.
text: 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.
ref: 2013 July 1, Peter Wilby, “Finland’s education ambassador spreads the word”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 16 Jul 2017; republished as “Finland spreads word on schools”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, London, 2013 July 19, page 30:
glosses: The amount of time that some being has been alive, or that some thing has been in existence, as measured from its birth or origin until the present or until some other given reference point. (Often measured in number of years; alternatively in months, days, hours, etc.; see also the usage notes)
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1936 Feb. 15, Ernest Hemingway, letter to Maxwell Perkins
text: Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age, sometimes age just shows up all by itself.
synonyms: word: old age
word: dotage
word: senility
word: seniority
word: age
word: chair days
word: codgerhood
word: eld
word: elderliness
word: fogeydom
word: geezerdom
word: golden years
word: old age
word: oldhood
word: senescence
word: senectitude
word: twilight years
word: sunset years
word: vetustity
antonyms: youth
glosses: The state of being old; the latter part of life.
examples: text: the age of infancy
glosses: Any particular stage of life.
examples: text: the age of consent; the age of discretion
glosses: The time of life at which some particular power or capacity is understood to become vested.
examples: text: to come of age; she is now of age
synonyms: majority
adulthood
glosses: Maturity; especially, the time of life at which one attains full personal rights and capacities.
examples: text: the golden age of cinema; the first age of colonialism; a bygone age
text: 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]).
ref: 1970, Jim Theis, “The Eye of Argon”, in OSFAN, volume 10, Chapter 3½, page 33:
text: 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.
ref: 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, volume 408, number 8847, archived from the original on 01 Aug 2013:
synonyms: word: epoch
word: time
word: era
word: age
word: cycle
word: day
word: epoch
word: era
word: generation
word: Great Year
word: interval
word: period
word: Platonic year
word: time
glosses: A particular period of time in history, as distinguished from others.
examples: text: the age of Pericles; the age of the dinosaurs
synonyms: word: epoch
word: time
word: era
word: age
word: cycle
word: day
word: epoch
word: era
word: generation
word: Great Year
word: interval
word: period
word: Platonic year
word: time
glosses: A particular period of time in history, as distinguished from others.
The time or era in history when someone or something was alive or flourished.
examples: text: The Bronze Age was followed by the Iron Age.
synonyms: word: epoch
word: time
word: era
word: age
word: cycle
word: day
word: epoch
word: era
word: generation
word: Great Year
word: interval
word: period
word: Platonic year
word: time
glosses: A particular period of time in history, as distinguished from others.
A great period in the history of the Earth.
examples: text: The Tithonian Age was the last in the Late Jurassic Epoch.
topics: geography
geology
natural-sciences
synonyms: word: epoch
word: time
word: era
word: age
word: cycle
word: day
word: epoch
word: era
word: generation
word: Great Year
word: interval
word: period
word: Platonic year
word: time
glosses: A particular period of time in history, as distinguished from others.
The shortest geochronologic unit, being a period of thousands to millions of years; a subdivision of an epoch (or sometimes a subepoch).
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1911 April 10, The Evening News, Sydney, page 8, column 2:
topics: astrology
human-sciences
mysticism
philosophy
sciences
glosses: One of the twelve divisions of a Great Year, equal to roughly 2000 years and governed by one of the zodiacal signs; a Platonic month.
synonyms: centennium
glosses: A period of one hundred years; a century.
examples: text: There are three ages living in her house.
glosses: A generation.
examples: text: It’s been an age since we last saw you.
synonyms: word: eternity
word: yonks
word: aeon
word: age
word: ages
word: blue moon
word: coon's age
word: crow's age
word: dog's age
word: donkey's years
word: eld
word: eon
word: eternity
word: forever
word: forever and a day
word: interim
word: interlude
word: interval
word: lifetime
word: long haul
word: long run
word: meantime
word: minute
word: month of Sundays
word: spell
word: while
word: years
word: yonks
glosses: A long time.
examples: text: The age of man is three score years and ten.
text: Thrice the age of a dog is that of a horse.
text: The CHAIRMAN said if Lord Bacon had asserted that man's age exceeded that of all other living creatures, he must have included the patriarchs in his calculation. Without doubt the age of many animals exceeded that of man. [...] Indeed, if the assumed age of the patriarchs be correct, it is against our own experience, it being an admitted fact that the duration of human life has increased. The age of the patriarchs was by some attributed to the effect of certain waters upon the cartilages.
ref: 1872, George Duncan Gibb, The Physical Condition of Centenarians, as Derived from Personal Observation in Nine Genuine Examples, London, page 13:
glosses: Lifespan, lifetime; the total time that some being is alive from birth to death (or some category of beings, on average).
topics: card-games
poker
glosses: The entitlement 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.
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: achievement age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: act one's age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: advanced age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: afterage
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age-adjustment
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age adjustment
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age before beauty
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age class
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age compression
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: aged
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age difference
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age discrimination
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age distribution
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age dreamer
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: ageful
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age gap
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age gate
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age grade
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: agegraphic
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age group
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age identity
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: ageing
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: aging
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age is just a number
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: ageism
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: ageist
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: ageistic
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: ageless
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age limit
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age-long
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: agelong
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age-mate
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: Age of Aquarius
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age of consent
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age of criminal responsibility
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age of discretion
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: Age of Enlightenment
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age of extinction
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age of judgement
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age of judgment
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age of majority
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age of reason
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: Age of Reason
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: Age of Sail
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: Age of Steam
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age-old
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age play
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: ageplay
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age rating
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age regress
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age regression
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age regressor
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age-reversal
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: ages
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age set
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age spot
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age standardization
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age-standardization
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: age standardized rate
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: agewise
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: agism
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: all ages
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: an egg's age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: antiager
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: atomic age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: Atomic Age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: awkward age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: be ages with
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: bone age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: bottom-age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: bottom age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: brazen age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: Bronze Age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: bronze age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: chronological age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: Church Age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: college-age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: come of age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: coming of age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: coming-of-age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: coon's age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: crow's age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: cyberage
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: dark age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: Dark Ages
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: dark ages
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: darke age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: day-age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: day and age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: in this day and age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: day's age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: digital age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: dog's age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: drinking age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: emotional age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: for the ages
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: an early age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: full age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: golden age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: green old age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: health and fitness age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: heroic age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: hog age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: ice age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: Industrial Age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: info age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: iron age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: Iron Age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: jazz age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: jet age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: legal age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: look one's age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: machine age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: mature-age student
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: median age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: mental age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: midage
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: middle age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: middle-age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: Middle Ages
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: middle ages
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: modern age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: multiage
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: new age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: New Age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: new-age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: new age traveller
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: nonage
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: nuclear age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: of a certain age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: of age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: old-age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: old age home
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: one age with
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: overage
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: prehistoric age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: radiometric age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: reading age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: ripe old age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: school-age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: school age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: show one's age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: silver age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: space age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: space-age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: steam age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: Stelliferous Age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: stone-age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: Stone Age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: stone age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: teen-age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: teenage
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: teenager
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: third age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: top age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: top-age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: under age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: underage
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: unto the ages of ages
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: voting age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: weight for age
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: with ages
sense: Terms derived from age (noun)
word: youth-on-age