Etymology

age

A1G2E1

Today it 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 or until some other given reference point. (Often measured in number of years; alternatively in months, days, hours, etc.; see also the usage notes) Full definition →

Middle English age ← Old French eage ← Vulgar Latin *aetāticum
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ey-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂óyu
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂oywom
  4. Proto-Italic*aiwom
  5. Proto-Italic*aiwotāts
  6. Latinaetātem
  7. Vulgar Latin*aetāticum
  8. Old Frencheage
  9. Middle Englishage
  10. English todayage

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. The verb is from Middle English agen, from the noun. Originally found mostly as a participial adjective, probably an adjective in -ed, derived from the noun, reanalyzed to create a verb; perhaps modeled on such pairs as Latin senēscō (seneō; verb) / senex (adjective) and Middle French vieillir (verb) / vieil (adjective). Also compare Old French se aagier, eogier (“become of age”).

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*h₂eyu- all →

ayeay

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.