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.
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.
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.
one of the periods or stages of human life.
a person of middle age.
advanced years; old age.
His eyes were dim with age.
a particular period of history, as distinguished from others; a historical epoch.
the age of Pericles; the Stone Age; the age of electronic communications.
the period of history contemporary with the span of an individual's life.
He was the most famous architect of the age.
a generation or a series of generations.
ages yet unborn.
a great length of time.
I haven't seen you for an age. He's been gone for ages.
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.
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.
Geology.
a period of the history of the earth distinguished by some special feature.
the Ice Age.
a unit of geological time, shorter than an epoch, during which the rocks comprising a stage were formed.
any of the successive periods in human history divided, according to Hesiod, into the golden, silver, bronze, heroic, and iron ages.
Cards.
Poker. the first player at the dealer's left.
to make old; cause to grow or seem old.
Fear aged him overnight.
to bring to maturity or a state fit for use.
to age wine.
to store (a permanent magnet, a capacitor, or other similar device) so that its electrical or magnetic characteristics become constant.
to expose (a dye or dyed cloth) to steam or humid air in order to fix the dye.
to stabilize the electrical properties of (a device) by passing current through it.
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
the period of existence of an object, material, group, etc
the age of this table is 200 years
a period or state of human life
he should know better at his age
she had got beyond the giggly age
( as modifier )
age group
the latter part of life
a period of history marked by some feature or characteristic; era
( capital when part of a name )
the Middle Ages
the Space Age
generation
the Edwardian age
geology palaeontol
a period of the earth's history distinguished by special characteristics
the age of reptiles
the period during which a stage of rock strata is formed; a subdivision of an epoch
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
informal (often plural) a relatively long time
she was an age washing her hair
I've been waiting ages
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
(often said humorously when yielding precedence) older people take precedence over younger people
adult and legally responsible for one's actions (usually at 18 or, formerly, 21 years)
to grow or make old or apparently old; become or cause to become old or aged
to begin to seem older
to have aged a lot in the past year
brewing to mature or cause to mature
indicating a collection, set, or group
acreage
baggage
indicating a process or action or the result of an action
haulage
passage
breakage
indicating a state, condition, or relationship
bondage
parentage
indicating a house or place
orphanage
indicating a charge or fee
postage
indicating a rate
dosage
mileage
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.
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
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
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."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Serena Williams returned to Wimbledon this summer at age 44 and at least half a dozen athletes 40 and older showed up at the Milan-Cortina Olympics last February hoping to medal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Hiring and firing decisions cannot be based on a person’s race, religion, age, sex or other protected status, such as pregnancy.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
Unlike laboratory mice, which often require researchers to artificially trigger tumor growth, lemon frost geckos develop cancer naturally and at a relatively young age.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
The approximate number of people in the U.S. age 50 and older who held student-loan debt as of the first quarter of 2026.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
There were four women drivers and two girls my age.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
Although Fuchs, 29, has been having the usual youth-v. -age difficulties�Teammate Sabine Sebrowski recently beat her�she is at her peak for Montreal.
From Time Magazine Archive
NOTE.—The suffix -age is found only in French-Latin derivatives.
From New Word-Analysis by William Swinton
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
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 Downer, Charles Alfred
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 Downer, Charles Alfred
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
Everyone grows older, but the rate at which the body ages can vary from person to person.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
But readers ages 4 to 8 have nothing to fear, for the pickle has one last lesson to impart.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Almost 35% of working-age adults ages 18 to 64 said they pay for groceries with their credit card and pay the balance in full, Urban Institute researchers said Monday.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
The department did not provide ages of the victims.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Your brother is banished to the dark ages of the twenty-first century?
From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly
The men, aged 54 to 73, are all British citizens and are due to appear before Newport Magistrates' Court on 24 July.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Hegseth said on Wednesday that servicemembers aged 30 and older would be tested every year during their annual health assessments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
An estimated 7.4 million people aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s, the Alzheimer’s Association said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
The team analyzed data from 1,899 adults participating in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, an ongoing population-based study of a nationally representative sample of adults aged 50 and older living in England.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
Sex differences in the factors which predict musical attainment in school aged students.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
Although more common after 65, the condition is not an inevitable part of ageing, the WHO insisted.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
Many of Japan’s economic problems result from its demographic challenge: an ageing and shrinking population that has created labor shortages.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
The population of the 27-nation European Union will peak in 2029 before falling in the coming decades, according to a report published Tuesday that spotlights the major challenges the bloc faces from an ageing population.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
The UK is facing similar issues to many of its peers; an ageing population, cost of living pressures and a growing burden of mental health problems.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 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
What trends are fueling this demographic shift, and where can investors tap into the long-term growth potential of an aging world?
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
Even the non-thriller themes — female friendship, aging, ageism, admitting the truth about oneself to oneself and one’s dearest, the invigorating effects of danger — are explicitly expressed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
The results also reveal how money from its customer bills is not enough to fund the massive upgrades needed to improve its aging and historically underinvested infrastructure, which means it needs to borrow more money.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
A new clinical trial suggests that semaglutide, the active ingredient in those medications, may also help slow some of the biological processes associated with aging.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
There is a theory that the process of aging may be due to the cumulative effect of imprecision, a gradual degrading of information.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
