age
age — noun
1. the count of years for someone since their birth, or for an animal, plant, or ob
the count of years for someone since their birth, or for an animal, plant, or object since it first came into being.
Sofia learned to ride a bicycle at the age of five.
at the age of [number]
What is the age of that old oak tree behind the church?
The museum guard asked the boys their names and ages.
Mr. Otto retired from the railway at sixty years of age.
[number] years of age
Children under the age of twelve must travel with an adult.
under the age of [number]
- at the age of
- of all ages
- regardless of age
- average age
- at a young age
Grammar Patterns
at the age of [number]
[number] years of age
Usage Note
Frequently appears with the prepositions 'at', 'of', and 'under'. When stating a specific number, both 'at age 30' and 'at the age of 30' are natural; the second form is slightly more formal.
Common Mistakes
2. used in the fixed phrase 'act your age', told to someone whose behaviour seems t
used in the fixed phrase 'act your age', told to someone whose behaviour seems too childish or silly for how old they are.
Stop throwing peas at your sister, Jamie, and act your age!
imperative form: act your age
Their father told the twins to act their age and stop whining.
Aunt Mei rolled her eyes and said, 'Honestly, act your age, Daniel.'
When the senator giggled at the joke, his wife whispered, 'Act your age.'
- act your age
- act their age
- act his age
Grammar Patterns
act your age
Usage Note
Almost always used in the imperative 'act your age' or its possessive variants ('act their age'). Rarely appears outside this fixed phrase.
Common Mistakes
3. the year of life at which the law allows a person to do something, such as drive
the year of life at which the law allows a person to do something, such as drive, vote, marry, or drink alcohol.
In Taiwan, the legal age for buying alcohol is eighteen.
the legal age for + activity
Dilnoza waited two years until he reached the age for driving a motorcycle.
The country lowered the voting age from twenty to eighteen last year.
voting age / drinking age compounds
Anna married above the age of consent set by her home country.
the age of consent
- age of consent
- voting age
- drinking age
- legal age
- age of majority
Grammar Patterns
age of [activity]
Usage Note
Often appears as a compound: 'voting age', 'drinking age', 'age of consent', 'age of majority'. Distinguish from sense 1: sense 3 names a legal threshold tied to an activity, not a person's current years.
Common Mistakes
4. a long stretch of history that is remembered for one major thing, such as a rule
a long stretch of history that is remembered for one major thing, such as a ruler, an invention, a style, or a way of life.
We are now living in the age of artificial intelligence and instant news.
the age of + Noun
The Bronze Age began when people first learned to mix copper with tin.
the [Adjective] Age (capitalised)
Shakespeare wrote his plays during the Elizabethan age in England.
Many farmers feared the dawn of the steam age would end their craft.
- the Stone Age
- the Middle Ages
- the digital age
- the modern age
- a golden age
Grammar Patterns
the [Adjective] Age
the age of [Noun]
Usage Note
Capitalised when naming a famous historical period (the Stone Age, the Middle Ages, the Industrial Age). Lower-case in looser phrases like 'the age of the internet'.
Common Mistakes
5. a stretch of time that feels much longer than it really was — used as a friendly
a stretch of time that feels much longer than it really was — used as a friendly exaggeration, almost always in the plural.
Ines, I haven't seen you in ages — how have you been?
in ages (negative context)
The boys waited ages for the school bus in the freezing rain.
wait ages for + Noun
It took Gita ages to fix the broken tap under the kitchen sink.
take + sb + ages + to-infinitive
We've been friends for ages, ever since primary school in Tainan.
for ages
- for ages
- in ages
- take ages
- wait ages
- moment
a very short time
Grammar Patterns
ages / for ages / in ages
Usage Note
Almost always plural: 'ages', 'for ages', 'in ages'. The singular 'an age' in this meaning sounds British and slightly old-fashioned. The phrase exaggerates and is not used in formal writing.
Common Mistakes
6. the natural process by which living things become old, together with the visible
the natural process by which living things become old, together with the visible signs of that process such as grey hair and weaker muscles.
Good wine, my grandfather said, only improves with age.
with age (process complement)
The marathon runner's knees showed the wear of age and hard training.
Age had softened the once-sharp anger in Mrs. Park's voice.
Age as subject (personified)
The wooden beams in the barn had darkened with age and rain.
- with age
- signs of age
- old age
- the effects of age
- old age
the late stage of life specifically, not the whole process
- youth
the early period of life
Grammar Patterns
with age
the effects of age
Usage Note
Uncountable in this sense — never 'an age' or 'ages'. Distinguish from sense 1: sense 1 is a measurable number, sense 6 is the process and its effects. Often pairs with verbs of change ('improve, soften, darken with age').
Common Mistakes
be/act your age
idiomTo behave in a way that is appropriate for how old you are, not like a younger person.
Stop crying like a baby and act your age, Tom.
Why can't you just be your age and talk calmly?
come of age
idiomTo reach the age when you have the legal rights and responsibilities of an adult.
Mia will inherit the money when she comes of age.
The company came of age when it went public last year.
feel your age
idiomTo become aware that you are getting older, especially compared to younger people.
After playing soccer with the kids, I really felt my age.
Do you ever feel your age when you see teenagers?
A very old age, often used to express admiration or surprise.
Grandpa learned to use a tablet at the grand old age of 85.
She climbed the mountain at the grand old age of 70.
in this day and age
idiomIn the present time, especially when comparing to the past.
In this day and age, everyone has a smartphone.
Why would anyone send a letter in this day and age?
look your age
idiomTo appear as old as you actually are, not younger or older.
With that gray hair, you finally look your age.
Does she look her age or does she seem younger?
A polite way to say that someone is very old.
The professor, of advanced years, still teaches every day.
Despite his advanced age, Mr. Lee runs five miles daily.
of a certain age
idiomUsed to describe someone who is no longer young but not yet old.
The magazine targets women of a certain age.
Many people of a certain age enjoy gardening.
An age that is considered very old, often used with admiration.
My great-grandmother lived to the ripe old age of 99.
He retired at the ripe old age of 75.
under age
idiomNot old enough legally to do something, such as drink alcohol or drive.
The club won't let anyone under age enter.
It's illegal to sell cigarettes to people who are under age.
age — verb
1. to grow visibly older, or to make someone look or feel older than before — often
to grow visibly older, or to make someone look or feel older than before — often because of stress, illness, or hard times.
Mrs. Chen has aged a great deal since her husband passed away.
intransitive: subject + age
Two years of caring for his sick mother had aged Daniel terribly.
transitive: event + age + person
The actor refused to age his character with grey makeup or wrinkles.
Despite the long campaign, the Mayor seemed not to have aged at all.
- age gracefully
- age rapidly
- age well
- age overnight
- rejuvenate
to make young again; the opposite of the transitive sense
Grammar Patterns
[person/thing] ages
[event] ages [person]
Usage Note
Used both intransitively (people age) and transitively (events age people). The transitive use almost always carries a negative cause — grief, war, illness, stress.
Common Mistakes
2. to keep a food or drink — especially cheese, wine, whisky, or meat — resting for
to keep a food or drink — especially cheese, wine, whisky, or meat — resting for a long time so that its taste grows richer and more pleasant.
The farmer ages his cheddar in a stone cellar for at least nine months.
transitive: age + food + for + period
This whisky has been aged in oak barrels since the year I was born.
passive: be aged in + container
Good beef ages well when the temperature in the locker stays steady.
intransitive: food + age + adverb
Gita ages his homemade kimchi in clay pots buried near the back porch.
- age in oak barrels
- age cheese
- aged whisky
- well-aged
Grammar Patterns
age [food/drink] for [period]
[food/drink] ages
Usage Note
Subject or object is almost always a food or drink that grows tastier over time (cheese, wine, whisky, beef, kimchi, miso). Frequently passive: 'aged for [period]', 'aged in [container]'. Distinguish from verb sense 1, which is about people growing old.
Common Mistakes
age — suffix
1. added to the end of a verb to make a noun that names the action of doing it, the
added to the end of a verb to make a noun that names the action of doing it, the way it is done, or the amount produced — for example, 'pass' + '-age' becomes 'passage'.
From the verb 'leak', we form the noun 'leakage', the act or amount of leaking.
verb 'leak' + -age → noun 'leakage'
'Marriage' comes from 'marry' plus '-age', meaning the action of being married.
Engineers measure water 'usage' by adding '-age' to the verb 'use'.
After the storm, the news reported the 'breakage' of windows along the coast.
- leakage
- marriage
- usage
- breakage
- passage
Grammar Patterns
verb stem + -age → noun
Usage Note
This is a bound morpheme — '-age' never stands alone as a word. Stress usually stays on the original verb's syllable. Most '-age' nouns from this sense are uncountable when they refer to amount (leakage, usage, breakage), countable when they name an act (a marriage, a passage).
Common Mistakes
2. added to the end of a noun to make a new noun that names a state, rank, or condi
added to the end of a noun to make a new noun that names a state, rank, or condition connected with the original noun — for example, 'bond' + '-age' becomes 'bondage'.
From 'parent', we form 'parentage', the state of having particular parents.
noun 'parent' + -age → noun 'parentage'
'Patron' plus '-age' gives 'patronage', the support a customer or sponsor offers.
In old novels, 'bondage' described the condition of being held as a slave.
The duke's 'peerage' marked his rank inside the British nobility.
- parentage
- patronage
- bondage
- peerage
- marriage
Grammar Patterns
noun stem + -age → noun
Usage Note
Distinguish from suffix sense 1: sense 1 builds nouns from verbs (action), sense 2 builds nouns from nouns (state). Many '-age' words have a slightly literary or formal feel.
Common Mistakes
3. added to the end of a word to make a noun that names a building, area, or place
added to the end of a word to make a noun that names a building, area, or place where something happens — for example, 'orphan' + '-age' becomes 'orphanage', a home for orphans.
'Orphanage' joins 'orphan' with '-age' to name a home for parentless children.
root 'orphan' + -age → place noun
The word 'parsonage' uses '-age' to name the house where a parson lives.
A 'hermitage' is a quiet place built for a hermit to live alone.
Old maps marked each 'vicarage' near the village church on the hill.
- orphanage
- parsonage
- vicarage
- hermitage
Grammar Patterns
root + -age → place noun
Usage Note
The smallest of the three '-age' meanings and largely closed — few new place words are coined this way. Most learners only need to recognise the existing words (orphanage, hermitage, parsonage, vicarage) rather than form new ones.
Common Mistakes
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: noun/4
All four words name a stretch of history, but they differ in scope and tone. 'Period' is the most neutral and general — any block of time, short or long, can be a period (the Tudor period, a difficult period in her career). 'Age' is broader and more vivid: it usually carries a defining theme (the Bronze Age, the digital age) and often appears in capitalised proper-noun phrases. 'Era' overlaps with 'age' but feels slightly more formal and is common in journalism (a new era of cooperation). 'Epoch' is the most literary; it suggests a clear turning point that opens a fresh chapter (the epoch of space travel began in 1957). For example, you would naturally say 'the Romantic period' in a textbook, 'the digital age' in a magazine, 'a new era' in a politician's speech, and 'a defining epoch' in a poem.
Common collocations
Nouns
- age group
- age limit
- age range
- age gap
- age difference
Adverbs
- gracefully
- rapidly
- well
- prematurely
- noticeably
Phrases
- of all ages
- regardless of age
- act your age
- come of age
- feel your age
Prepositions
- at the age of
- under the age of
- over the age of
- for ages
- with age
Etymology
English borrowed 'age' from Old French 'aage' in the 1200s, when it meant simply how long someone had lived. The French word came from Latin 'aetaticum', built on 'aetas' meaning lifetime, which in turn traces back to 'aevum' — life or eternity. The same Latin root gives us 'eternal' and 'eon'. The verb 'to age' (to grow old) appeared later, around the 1300s, formed directly from the noun. The suffix '-age' has a different but parallel history: it entered English from Old French '-age', from Latin '-aticum', and was used to build nouns of action, state, or place — which is why 'voyage', 'marriage', and 'orphanage' all share the same ending despite very different meanings.