Word: age Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ey- Proto-Indo-European *-u Proto-Indo-European *h₂óyu Proto-Italic *aiwom Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts Proto-Italic *-tāts Proto-Italic *aiwotāts Latin aetātem Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātus Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icus Latin -āticus Latin -āticum Vulgar Latin *aetāticum Old French eagebor. Middle English age English age 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”). Pronunciation: /eɪd͡ʒ/ 1. To grow aged; to become old or older; to show marks of age. Labels: intransitive Example: He grew fat as he aged. Example: I am aging; that is, I have a whitish, or rather a light-coloured, hair here and there. Sober thinking brings them 2. To grow aged; to become old or older; to show marks of age. Labels: intransitive, usually Example: His prediction that we didn't stand a chance hasn't aged well, now that we've won the cup. Example: The sitcom was made in the 1970s and its casual sexism has not aged well. 3. To cause to grow old; to impart the characteristics of age to. Labels: transitive Example: Grief ages us. Example: To look at the hair by itself you'd say it was actually quite pretty, but on her head the gray sure ages her. 4. To cause to grow old; to impart the characteristics of age to. Labels: transitive Example: We age the whiskey for five years. 5. To cause to grow old; to impart the characteristics of age to. Labels: transitive Example: This clock is modern, but it has been deliberately aged in an attempt to make it seem antique. 6. To determine the age of (the length of time that something has been alive or in existence). Labels: transitive Example: There are several ways to age trees. 7. To indicate or reveal that (a person) has been alive for a certain period of time, especially a long one. Labels: transitive Example: I clearly remember hearing the news of Kennedy's assassination. That ages me. Example: 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? 8. To allow (something) to persist by postponing an action that would extinguish it, as a debt. Labels: figuratively, transitive Example: Money's a little tight right now. Let's age our bills for a week or so. 9. To categorize by age. Labels: transitive Example: One his first assignments was to age the accounts receivable.