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age

Syllabification: (age)
Pronunciation: /āj/
Translate age | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of age

noun

  • 1the length of time that a person has lived or a thing has existed:he died from a heart attack at the age of 51 his wife is the same age as Carla he must be nearly 40 years of age young people between the ages of 11 and 18
  • a particular stage in someone’s life:children of primary school age
  • the latter part of life or existence; old age:with age this gland can become sluggish
  • 2a distinct period of history:an age of technological growth a child of the television age
  • Geology a division of time that is a subdivision of an epoch, corresponding to a stage in chronostratigraphy.
  • archaic a lifetime taken as a measure of time; a generation:Nestor is said to have lived three ages when he was ninety years old
  • (ages/an age) informal a very long time:I haven’t seen her for ages it would take an age to tell her everything

verb (ages, ageing or aging, aged)

[no object]
  • grow old or older, especially visibly and obviously so:you haven’t aged a lot the tiredness we feel as we age
  • [with object] cause to grow, feel, or appear older:he even tried aging the painting with a spoonful of coffee
  • (especially with reference to an alcoholic drink) mature or allow to mature: [no object]:the wine ages in open vats or casks
  • [with object] determine how old (something) is:we didn’t have a clue how to age these animals

Phrases

act (or be) one's age

[usually in imperative] behave in a manner appropriate to someone of one’s age and not to someone much younger:“Act your age” is not advice to behave like an adolescent

come of age

(of a person) reach adult status.
(of a movement or activity) become fully established:space travel will then finally come of age

of an age

  • 1old enough to be able or expected to do something:the sons are of an age to marry
  • 2(of two or more people or things) of a similar age:the children all seemed of an age

through the ages

throughout history.

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French, based on Latin aetas, aetat-, from aevum 'age, era'

Spelling help

Aging is usually spelled without an e, although ageing is also correct.

age in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of age in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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