age

Etymology

From Middle English age, Old French aage, eage, edage, from an assumed Vulgar Latin *aetāticum, derived from Latin aetātem, itself derived from aevum (“lifetime”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- (“vital force”). Compare French âge. Displaced native Old English ieldu.

noun

1. (countable) The whole duration of a being, whether human, animal, plant, or other kind, being alive.
2. (countable) The number of full years, months, days, hours, etc., that someone, or something, has been alive.
   Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting. 1 July 2013, Peter Wilby, “Finland’s education ambassador spreads the word”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 2017-07-16; republished as “Finland spreads word on schools”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, London, 19 July 2013, page 30
3. (countable) One of the stages of life.
   the age of infancy
4. (countable) The time of life at which some particular power or capacity is understood to become vested.
   the age of consent; the age of discretion
5. (countable) A particular period of time in history, as distinguished from others.
   the golden age; the age of Pericles
   Encircling the marble altar was a congregation of leering shamen. Eerie chants of a bygone age, originating unknown eons before the memory of man, were being uttered from the buried recesses of the acolytes' deep lings . 1970, Jim Theis, “The Eye of Argon”, in OSFAN, volume 10, Chapter 3½, page 33
   The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices). It was used to make kerosene, the main fuel for artificial lighting after overfishing led to a shortage of whale blubber. 3 August 2013, “Yesterday’s fuel: The world’s thirst for oil could be nearing a peak. That is bad news for producers, excellent for everyone else.”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847, archived from the original on 2013-08-01
6. (countable) A great period in the history of the Earth.
   the Bronze Age was followed by the Iron Age; the Tithonian Age was the last in the Late Jurassic epoch
7. (astrology) One of the twelve divisions of a Great Year, equal to roughly 2000 years and goverened by one of the zodiacal signs; a Platonic month.
   Mr Lewis says we are living in the age of Aquarius, which means that the world is at present passing through the zodiacal sign of Aquarius, the airy constellation. 10 Apr 1911, The Evening News, Sydney, page 8, column 2
8. (countable) A period of one hundred years; a century.
9. (countable) The people who live during a particular period.
10. (countable) A generation.
    There are three ages living in her house.
11. (countable, hyperbolic) A long time.
    It’s been an age since we last saw you.
12. (countable, geology) The shortest geochronologic unit, being a period of thousands to millions of years; a subdivision of an epoch (or sometimes a subepoch).
13. (countable, poker) The right of 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.
14. (uncountable) That part of the duration of a being or a thing which is between its beginning and any given time; specifically the size of that part.
    What is the present age of a man, or of the earth?
15. (uncountable) Mature age; especially, the time of life at which one attains full personal rights and capacities.
    to come of age; she is now of age
16. (uncountable) An advanced period of life; the latter part of life; the state of being old, old age, senility; seniority.
    Feel awfully about Scott... It was a terrible thing for him to love youth so much that he jumped straight from youth to senility without going through manhood. The minute he felt youth going he was frightened again and thought there was nothing between youth and age. 1936 Feb. 15, Ernest Hemingway, letter to Maxwell Perkins
    Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age, sometimes age just shows up all by itself.

verb

1. (intransitive) To grow aged; to become old; to show marks of age.
   He grew fat as he aged.
   I am aging; that is, I have a whitish, or rather a light-coloured, hair here and there. Sober thinking brings them 1824, Walter Savage Landor, Imaginary Conversations
   As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels. The reason plaque forms isn’t entirely known, but it seems to be related to high levels of cholesterol inducing an inflammatory response, which can also attract and trap more cellular debris over time. 2013 July-August, Stephen P. Lownie, David M. Pelz, “Stents to Prevent Stroke”, in American Scientist
2. (intransitive, informal, of a statement, prediction) To be viewed or turn out in some way after a certain time has passed.
   His prediction that we didn't stand a chance hasn't aged well, now that we've won the cup.
3. (transitive) To cause to grow old; to impart the characteristics of age to.
   Grief ages us.
4. (transitive, figurative) To postpone an action that would extinguish something, as a debt.
   Money's a little tight right now, let's age our bills for a week or so.
5. (transitive, accounting) To categorize by age.
   One his first assignments was to age the accounts receivable.
6. (transitive) To indicate that a person has been alive for a certain period of time, especially a long one.
   Mr. [David] Brinkley started out with network news. We got our news- I think it was the Huntley-Brinkley Report. I'm probably aging myself now, okay? 1992-06-14, This Week with David Brinkley (television production), spoken by [James?] Carville, via ABC
   To look at the hair by itself you'd say it was actually quite pretty, but on her head the gray sure ages her. 1998 Fall, Mare Freed, “Aluhana”, in The Antioch Review, volume 56, number 4