Dictionary: AG'ATE – AG-GLOM'ER-ATE

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AG'ATE, n.

An instrument used by gold-wire drawers, so called from the agate in the middle of it.

AG'ATE, n. [Fr. agate; L. achates, gagates; Gr. γαγατης; so called, says Pliny, 37, 10, because found near a river of that name in Sicily. So also Solinus and Isidore. But Bochart, with more probability, deduces it from the Punic and Heb. עקד, and with a different prefix Heb. נקד, nakad, spotted. The word is used, Gen. xxx. and xxxi., to describe the speckled and spotted cattle of Laban and Jacob.]

A class; of silicious, semi-pellucid gems of many varieties, consisting of quartz-crystal, flint, horn-stone, chalcedony, amethyst, jasper, cornelian, heliotrope, and jade, in various combinations, variegated with dots, zones, filaments, ramifications, arborizations, and various figures. Agates seem to have been formed by successive layers of silicious earth, on the sides of cavities which they now fill entirely or in part: They are esteemed the least valuable of the precious stones. Even in Pliny's time, they were in little estimation. They are found in rocks, in the form of fragments, in nodules, in small rounded lumps, rarely in stalactites. Their colors are various. They are used for rings, seals, cups, beads, boxes, and handles of small utensils. – Kirwan. Encyc. Cleaveland.

AG'A-TINE, a.

Pertaining to agate.

AG'A-TINE, n.

A genus of shells, oval or oblong.

AG'A-TIZ-ED, a.

Having the colored lines and figures of agate. – Fourcroy. Agatized wood, a substance apparently produced by the petrification of wood; a species of hornstone.

AG'A-TY, a.

Of the nature of agate. – Woodward.

A-GAVE', n. [Gr. αγαυος, admirable.]

  1. The American aloe. The great aloe rises twenty feet, and its branches form a sort of pyramid at the top. – Encyc.
  2. A genus of univalvular shells.

A-GAZE', v.t. [from gaze.]

To strike with amazement. [Obs.] – Spenser.

A-GAZ'ED, pp.

Struck with amazement. [Not in use.] – Shak.

AGE, n. [Fr. age; Arm. oage; deduced by Lunier from L. ætas, or ævum. But these are undoubtedly contracted words, Goth. aiw; D. eeuw; Gr. αιων; from the Celtic, W. haug, fullness, completeness, an age, a space of time; plur. hogion; the g being sunk in the Latin words; in the Sanscrit, yuga.]

  1. The whole duration of a being, whether animal, vegetable, or other kind; as, the usual age of a man is seventy years; the age of a horse may be twenty or thirty years; the age of a tree may be four hundred years.
  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.
  3. The latter part of life, or long continued duration; oldness. The eyes of Israel were dim for age. – Gen. xlviii.
  4. A certain period of human life, marked by a difference of state; as, life is divided into four stages or ages, infancy, youth, manhood, and old age; the age of youth; the age of manhood.
  5. 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 our country, both males and females are of age at twenty-one years old.
  6. Mature years; ripeness of strength or discretion. He is of age, ask him. – John ix.
  7. The time of life for conceiving children, or perhaps the usual time of such an event. Sarah was delivered of a son when she was past age. – Heb. xi.
  8. A particular period of time, as distinguished from others as, the golden age, the age of iron, the age of heroes or of chivalry.
  9. The people who live at a particular period; hence, a generation and a succession of generations; as, ages yet unborn. The mystery hid from ages. – Col. i.
  10. A century; the period of one hundred years.

A'GED, a.

  1. Old; having lived long; having lived almost the usual time allotted to that species of being; applied to animals or plants; as, an aged man, or an aged oak.
  2. Having a certain age; having lived; as, a man aged forty years.

A'GED, n.

Old persons. And the aged arose and stood up. – Job xxix.

A'GED-LY, adv.

Like an aged person.

A-GEN', adv. [for Again. Obs.]

A'GEN-CY, n. [L. agens. See Act.]

  1. The quality of moving or of exerting power; the state of being in action; action; operation; instrumentality; as, the agency of providence in the natural world.
  2. The office of an agent, or factor; business of an agent intrusted with the concerns of another; as, the principal pays the charges of agency.

A-GEND'A, n. [L. things to be done.]

A memorandum-book; the service or office of a church; a ritual or liturgy. – Encyc.

A'GENT, a.

Acting; opposed to patient, or sustaining action; as, the body agent. [Little used.] Bacon.

A'GENT, n.

  1. An actor; one that exerts power, or has the power to act; as, a moral agent.
  2. An active power or cause; that which has the power to produce an effect; as, heat is a powerful agent.
  3. A substitute, deputy, or factor; one intrusted with the business of another; an attorney; a minister.

A'GENT-SHIP, n.

The office of an agent. [Not used.] We now use agency.

AG'GE-LATION, n. [L. gelu.]

Concretion of a fluid. [Not used.] – Brown.

AG-GEN-ER-A'TION, n. [L. ad and generatio.]

The state of growing to another. [Not used.] Brown.

AG'GER, n. [L.]

A fortress, or mound. [Not used.] – Hearne.

AG'GER-ATE, v.t. [L. aggero.]

To heap. [Not used.]

AG-GER-A'TION, n.

A heaping; accumulation; as, aggerations of sand. – Ray.

AG-GLOM'ER-ATE, v.i.

To gather, grow or collect into a all or mass. – Thomson.