age
/eɪd͡ʒ/noun, verb
age is spelled A-G-E: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 209 times per million words in written English, the 483rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, age means “The amount of time that some being has been alive, or that some thing has been in existence, as measured from its birth or origin until the present…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of age is ages or %ages.
How many letters and syllables are in age?
| Letters | 3: A-G-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 209 times per million words; the 483rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is age?
Age appears 209 times per million words in written English, the 483rd 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 age?
- /eɪd͡ʒ/
Age has one syllable (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: En-us-age.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl--age.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl--age2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of age
- ages plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- aging participle, present
- ageing participle, present
- aged participle, past
- agés present, singular, he/she/it
- agéing participle, present
- agéed participle, past
- %ages plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does age mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The amount of time that some being has been alive, or that some thing has been in existence, as measured from its birth or origin until the present or until some other given reference point. (Often measured in number of years; alternatively in months, days, hours, etc.; see also the usage notes)
"What is the age of your oldest child?" – "He's ten." (ten years old)
- 2
The state of being old; the latter part of life.
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 not
- 3
Any particular stage of life.
the age of infancy
- 4
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
Maturity; especially, the time of life at which one attains full personal rights and capacities.
to come of age; she is now of age
- 6
A particular period of time in history, as distinguished from others.
the golden age of cinema; the first age of colonialism; a bygone age
- 7
The time or era in history when someone or something was alive or flourished.
the age of Pericles; the age of the dinosaurs
- 8
A great period in the history of the Earth.
The Bronze Age was followed by the Iron Age.
verb
- 1
To grow aged; to become old or older; to show marks of age.
He grew fat as he aged.
- 2
To suffer the passage of time so as to later be viewed or turn out in a certain way.
His prediction that we didn't stand a chance hasn't aged well, now that we've won the cup.
- 3
To cause to grow old; to impart the characteristics of age to.
Grief ages us.
- 4
To allow to mature.
We age the whiskey for five years.
- 5
To treat or tamper with in order to give a false appearance of age.
This clock is modern, but it has been deliberately aged in an attempt to make it seem antique.
- 6
To determine the age of (the length of time that something has been alive or in existence).
There are several ways to age trees.
- 7
To indicate or reveal that (a person) has been alive for a certain period of time, especially a long one.
I clearly remember hearing the news of Kennedy's assassination. That ages me.
- 8
To allow (something) to persist by postponing an action that would extinguish it, as a debt.
Money's a little tight right now. Let's age our bills for a week or so.
noun
- 1
Initialism of advanced glycation end-product.
- 2
Initialism of agarose gel electrophoresis.
- 3
Initialism of allyl glycidyl ether.
- 4
Initialism of arterial gas embolism.
verb
- 1
To act for another (as a law agent or solicitor).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Age in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | âge , époque, ère , génération , vieillir , -age |
| German | Alter , Volljährigkeit , Zeit, Epoche , but see altern lassen, alt machen |
| Portuguese | idade , -agem , maioridade , envelhecer , velhice , -ção |
| Spanish | edad, etario , envejecerse , mayoría , envejecer , tercera edad |
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.