agate
/ˈæɡ.ɪt/noun
agate is spelled A-G-A-T-E: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,565th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, agate means “A semitransparent, uncrystallized silicate mineral and semiprecious stone, presenting various tints in the same specimen, with colors delicately…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of agate is agates.
How many letters and syllables are in agate?
| Letters | 5: A-G-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 36,565th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is agate?
Agate appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,565th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce agate?
- /ˈæɡ.ɪt/
- /ˈæɡ.ət/
As an adverb (“On the way; agoing”): /əˈɡeɪt/.
Agate has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-agate1.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-agate2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with agate?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as agate from its last stressed vowel (/eɪt/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of agate
- agates plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does agate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A semitransparent, uncrystallized silicate mineral and semiprecious stone, presenting various tints in the same specimen, with colors delicately arranged and often curved in parallel alternating dark and light stripes or bands, or blended in clouds; various authorities call it a variety of chalcedony, a variety of quartz, or a combination of the two.
- 2
USdatedThe size of type between pearl and nonpareil, standardized as 5+¹⁄₂-point.
- 3
One fourteenth of an inch.
- 4
obsoleteA diminutive person; so called in allusion to the small figures cut in agate for rings and seals.
- 5
A tool used by gold-wire drawers, bookbinders, etc.;–so called from the agate fixed in it for burnishing.
- 6
A marble made from agate.
- 7
slangA testicle.
adverb
- 1
obsoleteOn the way; agoing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Agate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense mineral:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does agate come from?
From Middle French agathe, from Latin achatēs, from Ancient Greek ἀχάτης (akhátēs, “agate”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).