again

late Old English agan, from earlier ongean "toward, opposite, against, in exchange for," from on "on" (see on) + -gegn "against, toward," compounded for a sense of "lined up facing, opposite," and "in the opposite direction, returning." For -gegn, cf. Old Norse gegn "straight, direct;" Danish igen "against;" Old Frisian jen, Old High German gegin, German gegen "against, toward," entgegen "against, in opposition to."

In Old English, eft was the main word for "again" (see eftsoons), but this often was strengthened by ongean, which became the principal word by 13c. Norse influence is responsible for the hard -g-. Differentiated from against 16c. in southern writers, again becoming an adverb only, and against taking over as preposition and conjunction, but again clung to all senses in northern and Scottish dialect (where against was not adopted).

Repeatedly, often, as in I've told you again and again, don't turn up the heat. This idiom uses repetition for the purpose of emphasis (as does its synonym, over and over). Shakespeare used it in Othello (1:3): “I have told thee often, and I retell thee again and again.” [c. 1600]

In addition to the idiom beginning with again

• again and again

also see:

• come again
• do something over again
• ever and again
• every now and again
• here someone goes again
• now and again
• off and on (off again, on again)
• over again
• something else again
• time and time again
• you can say that again