Etymograph

English

agent

Agent comes from Latin agēns ‘doing, acting, making’, from agō ‘to act, to behave’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵeti1‘to be driving’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*agō1‘to drive’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagō1‘to act’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagēns1‘doing’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1807agent1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English agent
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1807, James Edward Smith: “So far seems to be the work of chemistry…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-Wiktionary, English agentreconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵetiWiktionary, English agent‘to be driving’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*agōWiktionary, English agent‘to drive’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagōWiktionary, English agent‘to act’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagēnsWiktionary, English agent‘doing’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1807agentWiktionary, English agent. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1807, James Edward Smith: “So far seems to be the work of chemistry…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-

register, suggest, essay, acre, gesture, congestion, digest, agrarian, progesterone, gestation, ingestion, ingest, axiomatic, belligerent, agitate, samaj, gestion, gerund, agger, 128 more

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti ‘to be driving’

strategy, agony, reactionary, axiom, antagonist, agonist, antagonism, antagonize, glucagon, stratagem, agonize, 102 more

through Proto-Italic *agō ‘to drive’

reaction, actively, transaction, radioactive, inactive, retroactive, unambiguous, hyperactivity, ambiguously, 80 more

through Latin agō ‘to act, to behave’

act, action, active, activity, actual, actor, examination, examine, activate, ambiguous, agenda, squat, ambiguity, assay, enact, agile, agility, agitation, radium, actuator, actuation, inexact, actuate, redact, cogent, exigent, 96 more

through Latin agēns ‘doing, acting, making’

agency

Today it means

noun One who exerts power, or has the power to act.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “agent”. 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 *h₂eǵ- / agent

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