Age (āj) , noun
[Old French aage, eage, French âge, from Latin aetas through a supposed Late Latin aetaticum. Latin aetas is contracted from aevitas, from aevum lifetime, age; akin to English aye ever. Compare Each.]
1.
The whole duration of a being, whether animal, vegetable, or other kind; lifetime.
Mine age is as nothing before thee. — Bible (KJV) - Psalm xxxix. 5
2.
That part of the duration of a being or a thing which is between its beginning and any given time; as, what is the present age of a man, or of the earth?
3.
The latter part of life; an advanced period of life; seniority; state of being old.
Nor wrong mine age with this indignity. — Shakespeare
4.
One of the stages of life; as, the age of infancy, of youth, etc. — Shakespeare
In the United States, both males and females are of age when twenty-one years old. Some rights, such as that of voting in elections, are conferred earlier.
5.
Mature age; especially, the time of life at which one attains full personal rights and capacities; as, to come of age; he (or she) is of age. — Abbott
6.
The time of life at which some particular power or capacity is understood to become vested; as, the age of consent; the age of discretion. — Abbott
7.
A particular period of time in history, as distinguished from others; as, the golden
age, the
age of Pericles.
The spirit of the age. — Prescott
Truth, in some age or other, will find her witness. — Milton
Archeological ages are designated as three: The Stone age (the early and the later stone age, called paleolithic and neolithic), the Bronze age, and the Iron age. During the Age of Stone man is supposed to have employed stone for weapons and implements.
8.
A great period in the history of the Earth.
The geologic ages are as follows: 1. The Archaan, including the time when was no life and the time of the earliest and simplest forms of life. 2. The age of Invertebrates, or the Silurian, when the life on the globe consisted distinctively of invertebrates. 3. The age of Fishes, or the Devonian, when fishes were the dominant race. 4. The age of Coal Plants, or Acrogens, or the Carboniferous age. 5. The Mesozoic or Secondary age, or age of Reptiles, when reptiles prevailed in great numbers and of vast size. 6. The Tertiary age, or age of Mammals, when the mammalia, or quadrupeds, abounded, and were the dominant race. 7. The Quaternary age, or age of Man, or the modern era.
9.
A century; the period of one hundred years.
Fleury... apologizes for these five ages. — Hallam
10.
The people who live at a particular period; hence, a generation.
Ages yet unborn. — Pope
The way which the age follows. — J. H. Newman
Lo! where the stage, the poor, degraded stage,
Holds its warped mirror to a gaping age. — C. Sprague
11.
A long time.
[Colloquial] He made minutes an age. — Tennyson
12.
(poker) the right belonging to the player to the left of the dealer to pass the first round in betting, and then to come in last or stay out; also, the player holding this position; the eldest hand.
Collocations (2)
Age of a tide , the time from the origin of a tide in the South Pacific Ocean to its arrival at a given place.
Moon's age , the time that has elapsed since the last preceding conjunction of the sun and moon.
Age is used to form the first part of many compounds; as, agelasting, age-adorning, age-worn, age-enfeebled, agelong.