Āge1, n.
n. [Fr. age, O. Fr. aage, eage, elage, Pr. atge, from Agave, or American Aloe. Lat. ætas, the lifetime of man, age, contracted from ævitas, from ævum, lifetime, age.]
Sense 1. The whole duration of a being, whether animal, vegetable, or other kind.
Mine age is as nothing before thee. Ps. xxxix. 5.
Sense 2. That part of the duration of a being which is between its beginning and any given time; as, what is the present age of a man, or of the earth?
Jesus began to be about thirty years of age. Luke iii. 23.
Sense 3. The latter part of life, or long continued duration; seniority. “Nor wrong my age with this indignity.” Shak.
Sense 4. A certain period of human life, marked by a difference of state. “His acts being seven ages.” Shak.
Sense 5. Mature years; the period when a person is enabled by law to do certain acts for himself, or when he ceases to be controlled by parents or guardians; as, in the United States, both males and females are of age at twenty-one years old.
Age of consent to marriage is fourteen in males, and twelve in females. — Age of discretion is fourteen in both sexes, at which they may choose their guardians. Bouvier.
Sense 6. The time of life for conceiving children, or perhaps the usual time of such an event.
Sarah was delivered of a child when she was past age. Heb. xi. 11.
Sense 7. A particular period of time in history, as distinguished from others; as, the golden age. “The spirit of the age.” Prescott.
Truth, in some age or other, will find her witness, and shall be justified at last by her own children. Milton.
Sense 8. The people who live at a particular period; hence, a generation, and a succession of generations. “Ages yet unborn.” Pope.
Lo! where the stage, the poor, degraded stage, Holds its warped mirror to a gaping age. Sprague.
Sense 9. A century; the period of one hundred years.
Henry . . . justly and candidly apologizes for these five ages. Hallam.
In Geol. there are said to be seven ages. 1. The Azoic age, when there was no animal life. 2. The age of mollusks, or the Silurian, when the highest form of life on the globe was that of mollusks or shell-fish. 3. The age of Fishes, or the Devonian, when fishes were the highest race. 4. The age of Coal Plants, or Acrogens. 5. The age of Reptiles, when reptiles prevailed in great numbers and of vast size. 6. The age of Mammals, when the mammalia, or quadrupeds, abounded, and were the dominant race. 7. The age of man, or the modern era. Dana.
Synonyms— Time; period; generation; date; era; epoch; maturity; ripeness.