Etymograph

English

ago

Ago comes from Middle English ago ‘passed’, past participle of agon ‘to depart, pass’, from Old English āgān ‘to go away, pass away’.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150āgān1‘to go away, pass away’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500agon1‘to depart, escape, pass’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ago1‘passed’past participle of agon
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2013ago1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English ago
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2013, Damned if you don’t: “Two years ago a pair of scientists sparked fears…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150āgānWiktionary, English ago‘to go away, pass away’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500agonWiktionary, English ago‘to depart, escape, pass’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500agoWiktionary, English ago‘passed’past participle of agon
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2013agoWiktionary, English ago. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2013, Damned if you don’t: “Two years ago a pair of scientists sparked fears…”

Word family

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

through Proto-Germanic *uz- ‘out’

  • awaken ← awakenen ← awæcnan ← *uʀ-
  • amaze ← *amasen ← āmasian ← *uʀ-
  • aghast ← agast ← agasten ← *uʀ-

through Old English āgān ‘to go away, pass away, go forth, come to pass’

4 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

postp Before now, before the present time

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “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 / Old English āgān / ago