English
age
Age comes from Middle English age, from Old French eage, from Vulgar Latin *aetāticum, from Latin aetātem ‘age’, ultimately from PIE *h₂ey- ‘vital force’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ey-‘vital force’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂óyu‘long time’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂oywomreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*aiwomreconstructed
- Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*aiwotātsreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaetātem
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*aetāticumreconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400eage‘age’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500age
- Englishearliest quotation 1824age
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ey-‘vital force’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂óyu‘long time’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂oywomreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*aiwomreconstructed
- Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*aiwotātsreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaetātem
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*aetāticumreconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400eage‘age’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500age
- Englishearliest quotation 1824age
Earliest quotation: 1824, Walter Savage Landor: “I am aging; that is, I have a whitish,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ey- ‘vital force, life, age, eternity’
early, young, era, diet, enigma, ere, 24 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂óyu ‘long time, lifetime’
yet, junior, juvenile, juvenal, 7 more
through Proto-Italic *aiwom
Today it means
noun 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)
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂ey- / age