age
n
1 the period of time that a person, animal, or plant has lived or is expected to live
the age of a tree, what age was he when he died?, the age of a horse is up to thirty years
2 the period of existence of an object, material, group, etc.
the age of this table is 200 years
a a period or state of human life
he should know better at his age, she had got beyond the giggly age
b (as modifier)
age group
4 the latter part of life
a a period of history marked by some feature or characteristic; era
b (cap. when part of a name)
the Middle Ages, the Space Age
6 generation
the Edwardian age
a a period of the earth's history distinguished by special characteristics
the age of reptiles
b the period during which a stage of rock strata is formed; a subdivision of an epoch
8 (Myth) any of the successive periods in the legendary history of man, which were, according to Hesiod, the golden, silver, bronze, heroic, and iron ages
9 often pl
Informal a relatively long time
she was an age washing her hair, I've been waiting ages
10 (Psychol) the level in years that a person has reached in any area of development, such as mental or emotional, compared with the normal level for his chronological age
See also →
achievement age →
mental age
11 ♦
age before beauty (often said humorously when yielding precedence) older people take precedence over younger people
12 ♦
of age adult and legally responsible for one's actions (usually at 18 or, formerly, 21 years)
vb , ages, ageing, aging, aged
13 to grow or make old or apparently old; become or cause to become old or aged
14 to begin to seem older
to have aged a lot in the past year
15 (Brewing) to mature or cause to mature (C13: via Old French from Vulgar Latin aetaticum (unattested), from Latin aetas, ultimately from aevum lifetime; compare aeon)
achievement age
n (Psychol) the age at which a child should be able to perform a standardized test successfully
Compare →
mental age
-age
suffix forming nouns
1 indicating a collection, set, or group
acreage, baggage
2 indicating a process or action or the result of an action
haulage, passage, breakage
3 indicating a state, condition, or relationship
bondage, parentage
4 indicating a house or place
orphanage
5 indicating a charge or fee
postage
6 indicating a rate
dosage, mileage
(from Old French, from Late Latin -aticum, noun suffix, neuter of -aticus, adjectival suffix, from -atus -ate1 + -icus -ic)
age allowance
n an income tax allowance given to taxpayers aged 65 or over
age hardening
n the hardening of metals by spontaneous structural changes over a period of time
See also →
precipitation hardening
age of consent
n
1 the age at which a person, esp. a female, is considered legally competent to consent to marriage or sexual intercourse
2 the age at which a person can enter into a legally binding contract
Age of Reason
n usually preceded by: the the 18th century in W Europe
See also →
Enlightenment
age-old , age-long
adj very old or of long duration; ancient
atomic age
n the. the current historical period, initiated by the development of the first atomic bomb towards the end of World War II and now marked by a balance of power between nations possessing the hydrogen bomb and the use of nuclear power as a source of energy
bronze age
n (Classical myth) a period of man's existence marked by war and violence, following the golden and silver ages and preceding the iron age
Bronze Age
n (Archaeol)
a a technological stage between the Stone and Iron Ages, beginning in the Middle East about 4500 b.c. and lasting in Britain from about 2000 to 500 b.c., during which weapons and tools were made of bronze and there was intensive trading
b (as modifier)
a Bronze-Age tool
coon's age
n (U.S.)
slang a long time
golden age
n
1 (Classical myth) the first and best age of mankind, when existence was happy, prosperous, and innocent
2 the most flourishing and outstanding period, esp. in the history of an art or nation
the golden age of poetry
3 the great classical period of Latin literature, occupying approximately the 1st century b.c. and represented by such writers as Cicero and Virgil
heroic age
n the period in an ancient culture, when legendary heroes are said to have lived
ice age
n another name for →
glacial period
iron age
n (Classical myth) the last and worst age in the history of the world
Iron Age
n
a the period following the Bronze Age characterized by the extremely rapid spread of iron tools and weapons, which began in the Middle East about 1100 b.c.
b (as modifier)
an Iron-Age weapon
jazz age
n often caps the. (esp. in the U.S.) the period between the end of World War I and the beginning of the Depression during which jazz became popular
(C20: popularized by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who called a collection of his short stories Tales of the Jazz Age (1922))
mental age
n (Psychol) the mental ability of a child, expressed in years and based on a comparison of his test performance with the performance of children with a range of chronological ages
See also →
intelligence quotient
middle age
n the period of life between youth and old age, usually (in man) considered to occur approximately between the ages of 40 and 60
♦
middle-aged adj
middle-age spread , middle-aged spread
n the fat that appears round many people's waist during middle age
New Age
n
a a philosophy, originating in the late 1980s, characterized by a belief in alternative medicine, astrology, spiritualism, etc.
b (as modifier)
New Age therapies
2 short for →
New Age music
New Age music , New Age
n a type of gentle melodic popular music originating in the U.S. in the late 1980s, which takes in elements of jazz, folk, and classical music and is played largely on synthesizers and acoustic instruments
New Stone Age
n (not now in technical use) another term for →
Neolithic
old age pension
n a former name for the state →
retirement pension
♦
old age pensioner n
Old Stone Age
n not now in technical usage another term for →
Palaeolithic
silver age
n
1 (in Greek and Roman mythology) the second of the world's major epochs, inferior to the preceding golden age and characterized by opulence and irreligion
2 the postclassical period of Latin literature, occupying the early part of the Roman imperial era, characterized by an overindulgence in elegance for its own sake and empty scholarly rhetoric
space age
n
1 the period in which the exploration of space has become possible
adj
♦
space-age
2 usually prenominal futuristic or ultramodern, esp. when suggestive of space technology
Stone Age
n
1 a period in human culture identified by the use of stone implements and usually divided into the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic stages
modifier
♦
Stone-Age
2 sometimes not caps of or relating to this period
stone-age man
Third Age
n the. old age, esp. when viewed as an opportunity for travel, further education, etc.