age (English)

Where does "age" come from?

The English word 'age' traces its roots back through Middle English 'age' and Old French 'aage' or 'eage'[1][2][3]. These forms descended from Vulgar Latin '*aetāticum', which was built from Latin 'aetātem'[1][2][3], meaning lifetime or age. Latin 'aetātem' ultimately derives from the Proto-Indo-European root '*h₂ey-', meaning 'vital force' or 'life'[1][4][5]. Over time, this borrowing displaced the native Old English term 'ieldu'[1].

Open questions

There are varying proposals for the exact series of morphological processes that resulted in the Latin term aetas from earlier forms. [4]

Full etymology tree

age (English), '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)'
- inherited age (Middle English), 'The age of someone (or rarely something); how old someone is.'
  - borrowed aage (Old French), 'alternative form of aage'
    - inherited *aetaticum (Latin), 'age'
      - suffix aetas (Latin), 'the period of a life: lifetime, lifespan'
        derived aevum (Latin), 'eternity, agelessness, timelessness (time as a single, unified, continuous and limitless entity; infinite time, time without end)'
        inherited *aiwotāts (Proto-Italic), 'age'
        suffix *aiwom (Proto-Italic), 'age'
        derived *h₂óyu (Proto-Indo-European), 'long time, lifetime'
        derived *h₂ey- (Proto-Indo-European), 'vital force, life, age, eternity'
        suffix *-tāts (Proto-Italic), 'used to form nouns representing state of being'
      - suffix -aticum (Latin), 'Used to form nouns indicating pertinence to the root verb or noun.'
    - suffix eé (Old French), 'age'
      - inherited aetas (Latin), 'the period of a life: lifetime, lifespan'
        derived aevum (Latin), 'eternity, agelessness, timelessness (time as a single, unified, continuous and limitless entity; infinite time, time without end)'
        inherited *aiwotāts (Proto-Italic), 'age'
        suffix *aiwom (Proto-Italic), 'age'
        derived *h₂óyu (Proto-Indo-European), 'long time, lifetime'
        derived *h₂ey- (Proto-Indo-European), 'vital force, life, age, eternity'
        suffix *-tāts (Proto-Italic), 'used to form nouns representing state of being'
    - suffix -age (Old French), 'forms nouns with the sense of 'action or result of''

Ancestors

*h₂ey- (Proto-Indo-European)
age (Middle English)
eage (Old French)
aetas (Latin)
*h₂óyu (Proto-Indo-European)
agen (Middle English)

Cognates and doublets

âge (French)

Descendants and derived words

achievement age (English)
act one's age (English)
advanced age (English)
afterage (English)
age adjustment (English)
age-adjustment (English)
age before beauty (English)
age class (English)
age compression (English)
aged (English)
aged (English)
aged (English)

Sources

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris