Etymograph

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’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ey-1‘vital force’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂óyu1‘long time’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂oywom1reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*aiwom1reconstructed
  5. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*aiwotāts1reconstructed
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaetātem1
  7. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*aetāticum1reconstructed
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400eage1‘age’
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500age1
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1824age1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English age
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1824, Walter Savage Landor: “I am aging; that is, I have a whitish,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ey-Wiktionary, English age‘vital force’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂óyuWiktionary, English age‘long time’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂oywomWiktionary, English agereconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*aiwomWiktionary, English agereconstructed
  5. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*aiwotātsWiktionary, English agereconstructed
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaetātemWiktionary, English age
  7. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*aetāticumWiktionary, English agereconstructed
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400eageWiktionary, English age‘age’
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ageWiktionary, English age
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1824ageWiktionary, English age. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1824, Walter Savage Landor: “I am aging; that is, I have a whitish,…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with age, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ey- ‘vital force, life, age, eternity’

  • early ← erly ← ǣrlīċe ← ǣr ← *airiz
  • young ← yong ← ġeong ← *jung ← *jungaz
  • era ← aera ← aes ← *aos ← *h₂éyos
  • diet ← diete ← dieta ← diaeta ← δίαιτα
  • enigma ← aenigma ← αἴνιγμα ← αἶνος
  • ere ← er ← ǣr ← *airi ← *airiz

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂óyu ‘long time, lifetime’

  • yet ← ġīet ← *jūta ← *juta ← *h₂yew-
  • junior ← iuvenior ← iuvenis ← *juwō ← *h₂yéwHō
  • juvenile ← iuvenīlis ← iuvenis ← *juwō ← *h₂yéwHō
  • juvenal ← iuvenālis ← iuvenis ← *juwō ← *h₂yéwHō

through Proto-Italic *aiwom

  • eternal ← aeternālis ← aeternus ← aevum
  • eternity ← eternyte ← eternité ← aeternitās ← aeternus

42 more relatives in the full family tree

No ads, ever.

Become a founding member, $29 onceI have a code

Explore everything descended from *h₂ey- →

No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.

Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app

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)

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “age”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂ey- / age