English
agile
Agile comes from Latin agilis ‘agile, nimble’, from agō ‘do, act’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- ‘to drive’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-1‘to drive’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵeti1‘to be driving’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*agō1‘to drive’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagō2‘do, act’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagilis2‘agile, nimble’
- Englishearliest quotation 1901agile2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin ago
- 2 Wiktionary, English agile
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1901, – 1902 April, Mr. Sherlock Holmes: “The man drew out paper and tobacco and twirled…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-Wiktionary, Latin ago‘to drive’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵetiWiktionary, Latin ago‘to be driving’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*agōWiktionary, Latin ago‘to drive’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagōWiktionary, English agile‘do, act’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagilisWiktionary, English agile‘agile, nimble’
- Englishearliest quotation 1901agileWiktionary, English agile. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1901, – 1902 April, Mr. Sherlock Holmes: “The man drew out paper and tobacco and twirled…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- ‘to drive’
suggest, register, essay, acre, gesture, digest, congestion, belligerent, progesterone, gestation, ingestion, agrarian, ingest, axiomatic, samaj, agitate, gerund, gestion, agger, 127 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti ‘to be driving’
strategy, agony, reactionary, antagonist, axiom, antagonism, agonist, antagonize, stratagem, glucagon, agonize, 101 more
through Proto-Italic *agō ‘to drive’
reaction, actively, transaction, radioactive, inactive, retroactive, unambiguous, hyperactivity, reagent, ambiguously, 79 more
through Latin agō ‘do, act’
act, action, active, activity, actual, actor, agency, agent, examination, examine, agenda, activate, ambiguous, squat, enact, ambiguity, assay, radium, agitation, actuator, cogent, actuation, inexact, exigent, actuate, redact, 96 more
through Latin agilis ‘agile, nimble’
Today it means
adj Having the faculty of quick motion in the limbs; apt or ready to move; loose-jointed.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “agile”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin ago. 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- / agile