Word: age Part of Speech: noun 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. 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) Labels: countable Example: "What is the age of your oldest child?" — "He's ten." (ten years old) Example: What were their ages at the time of their marriage? 2. The state of being old; the latter part of life. Labels: uncountable Example: 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. Example: Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age, sometimes age just shows up all by itself. 3. Any particular stage of life. Labels: countable Example: the age of infancy 4. The time of life at which some particular power or capacity is understood to become vested. Labels: countable Example: the age of consent; the age of discretion 5. Maturity; especially, the time of life at which one attains full personal rights and capacities. Labels: uncountable Example: to come of age; she is now of age 6. A particular period of time in history, as distinguished from others. Labels: countable Example: the golden age of cinema; the first age of colonialism; a bygone age Example: 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]). 7. A particular period of time in history, as distinguished from others. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: the age of Pericles; the age of the dinosaurs 8. A particular period of time in history, as distinguished from others. Labels: countable Example: The Bronze Age was followed by the Iron Age. 9. A particular period of time in history, as distinguished from others. Labels: countable Example: The Tithonian Age was the last in the Late Jurassic Epoch. 10. 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. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: 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. 11. A period of one hundred years; a century. Labels: countable 12. A generation. Labels: countable, dated, possibly, uncommon Example: There are three ages living in her house. 13. A long time. Labels: countable, excessive Example: It’s been an age since we last saw you. 14. Lifespan, lifetime; the total time that some being is alive from birth to death (or some category of beings, on average). Labels: countable Example: The age of man is three score years and ten. Example: Thrice the age of a dog is that of a horse. 15. 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. Labels: countable