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age

/eɪd͡ʒ/
nounverb

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)

NWL Collins ENABLE

Noun 4 meanings

  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)

    “"What is the age of your oldest child?" — "He's ten." (ten years old)”

  2. The state of being old; the latter part of life.

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

  3. Any particular stage of life.

    “the age of infancy”

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

    “the age of consent; the age of discretion”

Verb 4 meanings

  1. To grow aged; to become old or older; to show marks of age.

    “He grew fat as he aged.”

  2. To cause to grow old; to impart the characteristics of age to.

    “Grief ages us.”

  3. To determine the age of (the length of time that something has been alive or in existence).

    “There are several ways to age trees.”

  4. To indicate or reveal that (a person) has been alive for a certain period of time, especially a long one.

    “I clearly remember hearing the news of Kennedy's assassination. That ages me.”

Definitions: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA) via Kaikki/Wiktextract

Where it comes from

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.

Similar and opposite words

Similar
dotagesenilitysenioritycodgerhoodeldelderlinessfogeydomgeezerdom
Opposite
youthrejuvenateyoungenyouthen

AGE at a glance

AGE has 3 letters and scores 4 points in Scrabble (A 1 + G 2 + E 1) and 5 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #449 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.

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