age
noun
the length of time during which a being or thing has existed; length of life or existence to the time spoken of or referred to.
Jump To:
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age
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-age
-agea suffix typically forming mass or abstract nouns from various parts of speech, occurring originally in loanwords from French (voyage; courage ) and productive in English with the meanings “aggregate” (coinage; peerage; trackage ), “process” (coverage; breakage ), “the outcome of ” as either “the fact of ” or “the physical effect or remains of ” (seepage; wreckage; spoilage ), “place of living or business” (parsonage; brokerage ), “social standing or relationship” (bondage; marriage; patronage ), and “quantity, measure, or charge” (footage; shortage; tonnage; towage ).
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A.G.E.
A.G.E.abbreviationAssociate in General Education.
Trivia Time
In Shakespeare's As You Like It, he describes the "seven ages of man." What is the final age?
age
1 American
[ayj]
/ eɪdʒ /
noun
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ages
plural
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the length of time during which a being or thing has existed; length of life or existence to the time spoken of or referred to.
trees of unknown age; His age is 20 years.
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a period of human life, measured by years from birth, usually marked by a certain stage or degree of mental or physical development and involving legal responsibility and capacity.
the age of discretion; the age of consent; The state raised the drinking age from 18 to 21 years.
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the particular period of life at which a person becomes naturally or conventionally qualified or disqualified for anything.
He was over age for military duty.
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one of the periods or stages of human life.
a person of middle age.
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advanced years; old age.
His eyes were dim with age.
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a particular period of history, as distinguished from others; a historical epoch.
the age of Pericles; the Stone Age; the age of electronic communications.
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the period of history contemporary with the span of an individual's life.
He was the most famous architect of the age.
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a generation or a series of generations.
ages yet unborn.
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a great length of time.
I haven't seen you for an age. He's been gone for ages.
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the average life expectancy of an individual or of the individuals of a class or species.
The age of a horse is from 25 to 30 years.
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Psychology. the level of mental, emotional, or educational development of a person, especially a child, as determined by various tests and based on a comparison of the individual's score with the average score for persons of the same chronological age.
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Geology.
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a period of the history of the earth distinguished by some special feature.
the Ice Age.
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a unit of geological time, shorter than an epoch, during which the rocks comprising a stage were formed.
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any of the successive periods in human history divided, according to Hesiod, into the golden, silver, bronze, heroic, and iron ages.
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Cards.
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Poker. the first player at the dealer's left.
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verb (used without object)
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ages,
present (3rd person singular)
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aged,
past participle, past
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aging,
present participle
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ageing
present participle (especially British)
verb (used with object)
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ages,
present (3rd person singular)
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aged,
past participle, past
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aging,
present participle
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ageing
present participle (especially British)
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to make old; cause to grow or seem old.
Fear aged him overnight.
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to bring to maturity or a state fit for use.
to age wine.
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to store (a permanent magnet, a capacitor, or other similar device) so that its electrical or magnetic characteristics become constant.
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to expose (a dye or dyed cloth) to steam or humid air in order to fix the dye.
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to stabilize the electrical properties of (a device) by passing current through it.
idioms
-age
2
American
A.G.E.
3
American
abbreviation
age
1
British
/ eɪdʒ /
noun
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the period of time that a person, animal, or plant has lived or is expected to live
the age of a tree
what age was he when he died?
the age of a horse is up to thirty years
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the period of existence of an object, material, group, etc
the age of this table is 200 years
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a period or state of human life
he should know better at his age
she had got beyond the giggly age
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( as modifier )
age group
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the latter part of life
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a period of history marked by some feature or characteristic; era
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( capital when part of a name )
the Middle Ages
the Space Age
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generation
the Edwardian age
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geology palaeontol
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a period of the earth's history distinguished by special characteristics
the age of reptiles
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the period during which a stage of rock strata is formed; a subdivision of an epoch
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myth any of the successive periods in the legendary history of man, which were, according to Hesiod, the golden, silver, bronze, heroic, and iron ages
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informal (often plural) a relatively long time
she was an age washing her hair
I've been waiting ages
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psychol the level in years that a person has reached in any area of development, such as mental or emotional, compared with the normal level for his chronological age See also achievement age mental age
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(often said humorously when yielding precedence) older people take precedence over younger people
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adult and legally responsible for one's actions (usually at 18 or, formerly, 21 years)
verb
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to grow or make old or apparently old; become or cause to become old or aged
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to begin to seem older
to have aged a lot in the past year
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brewing to mature or cause to mature
-age
2
British
suffix
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indicating a collection, set, or group
acreage
baggage
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indicating a process or action or the result of an action
haulage
passage
breakage
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indicating a state, condition, or relationship
bondage
parentage
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indicating a house or place
orphanage
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indicating a charge or fee
postage
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indicating a rate
dosage
mileage
age
More Idioms
Synonym Usage
Age, epoch, era, period all refer to an extent of time. Age usually implies a considerable extent of time, especially one associated with a dominant personality, influence, characteristic, or institution: the age of chivalry. Epoch and era are often used interchangeably to refer to an extent of time characterized by changed conditions and new undertakings: an era ( or epoch ) of invention. epoch sometimes refers especially to the beginning of an era: the steam engine—an epoch in technology. A period may be long or short, but usually has a marked condition or feature: the glacial period; a period of expansion.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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agesimple
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agessimple
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have agedperfect
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has agedperfect
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am ageingprogressive
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am agingprogressive
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are ageingprogressive
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are agingprogressive
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is ageingprogressive
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is agingprogressive
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have been ageingperfect progressive
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have been agingperfect progressive
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has been ageingperfect progressive
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has been agingperfect progressive
Past
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agedsimple
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had agedperfect
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was ageingprogressive
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was agingprogressive
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were ageingprogressive
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were agingprogressive
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had been ageingperfect progressive
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had been agingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of age1
First recorded in 1225–75; (for the noun) Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French aage, eage, equivalent to aé, eé (from Latin ae(vi)tās “age, lifetime,” from aev(um) “eternity, period, time” + -itās -ity ) + -age -age; verb derivative of the noun
Origin of -age2
Middle English < Old French < Latin -āticum, neuter of -āticus adj. suffix; an extension of Latin -āta -ate 1, whose range of senses it reflects closely
Explanation
Your age is the number of years you've been alive. If your cat is six, you can say that he's "six years of age." You can also talk about a stage of life or an era in history as an age: "School age kids need to get outside and play every day." Often when someone mentions age as a concept or idea, they mean old age, or being elderly. And the verb age means "grow older." The word comes from the Old French aage, "age or lifetime," from the Latin root aevum, "lifetime, eternity, or age."
Vocabulary lists containing age
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Donations are wrapped and given to children from birth to age 17, as well as pregnant women who are referred to the charity.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
For adults contemplating having children, weighing the age of their own parents is often part of the calculus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026
The participants included 200 who eventually developed Crohn's disease, 200 who developed ulcerative colitis, and 100 healthy individuals of comparable age and sex.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026
The costs of maintaining the house and your ability to live there safely as you age all matter.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 24, 2026
She was Tansy’s age, but didn’t go to high school.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
NOTE.—The suffix -age is found only in French-Latin derivatives.
From New Word-Analysis by William Swinton
Another large group of hovering accents is that formed by French words with such terminations as -our, -ance, -ace, -age, -ant, -ess.
From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Raymond MacDonald Alden
Examples of words formed in imitation of these in English itself are blockade, orangeade. -age, ending of abstract nouns, as homage; marks place where, as vicarage;—of English formation, bondage, brewage, parsonage.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various
We incline to think rather that it corresponds to -age, being added chiefly to words in e. -age fits rather upon stems in a. gounfle, swollen. gounflige, swelling.
From Frédéric Mistral Poet and Leader in Provence by Charles Alfred Downer
This suffix is the equivalent of the French -age, and is a suffix of frequent occurrence in forming new words.
From Frédéric Mistral Poet and Leader in Provence by Charles Alfred Downer
Other companies have opted to release less-niche products that can still be marketed toward GLP-1 patients, such as SkinCeuticals’ new A.G.E.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2025
In a 1998 federal indictment, U.S. prosecutors in Reno identified him as the former president of a company, A.G.E.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 15, 2022
So when F1 teams choose to shine their attention on a kid—Mercedes has just six in its stable between the ages of 11 and 17—they aren’t panning for gold.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
Hila and Ethan share three sons ages 7, 4 and 2.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
Drivers ages 18 to 34 made up 9.7% of new vehicle registrations in August, down from 12.7% five years earlier, according to automotive-data company Mobility Global.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026
He said: "Even though I've spent ages preparing for this moment, to put it into practice was completely different."
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
People of all different ages play and splash in the pool, as if this is normal—as if the pool isn’t as big as a baseball field and holding water the color of algae.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
Over the past few years of increasing costs, Dawn says her family – which includes two children aged six and eight – have been "trimming the fat accordingly".
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
Freeman’s work is seen again in “Drums in the Park, Baltimore, Maryland, August 1973” and his sensitive portrait of the aged “Mrs. Brown, East Baltimore, Maryland, November 1970.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026
A man aged in his 20s and a woman in her 30s were previously charged in connection with the attack.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
Newcastle spent about £250m on players during the summer transfer window, with many of the new signings aged 21 or under.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
In 1825, aged just twenty-one, Owen moved to London and soon after was engaged by the Royal College of Surgeons to help organize their extensive, but disordered, collections of medical and anatomical specimens.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
Japan has registered a record number of foreigners living in the country this year despite growing anti-immigration sentiment, as the country grapples with problems caused by an ageing and shrinking population.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026
She said the healthcare system is already experiencing the impacts of an ageing society but there will also be implications for housing, public transport and workplaces.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
The other new name in their ageing batting line-up from last winter's Ashes is 30-year-old Matt Renshaw, who made his debut 10 years ago.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
While an ageing population and lower birth rates are limiting the supply of younger workers, higher participation rates among older employees and migration have helped to offset this decline.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
They were both old and round, and they lived in their flat with a number of ageing Highland terriers who had names like Hamish and Andrew and Jock.
From "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman
Or should they encourage upgrades to the aging housing stock?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2026
Steel, which is owned by Tokyo’s Nippon Steel, said the investment will replace aging equipment with modern steelmaking technology, increasing annual production capacity to about 3.5 million tons from 2.2 million tons.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
A reader is worried that her aging father-in-law, who sold his house to pay off a daughter’s $50,000 debt, will run out of money and need financial assistance himself.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026
One person familiar with the deliberations said that U.S. officials had considered backing an idea for publicly held American oil companies like Chevron, Exxon and Conoco to carve up and rehabilitate Venezuela’s aging oil sector.
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2026
“So you’ll be aging out of foster care in . . . let’s see . . . you turned seventeen in January, so nine months. Have you thought about what you’re going to do then?”
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
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