age
n. C / Un. Your age is the number of years you have been alive. It can also be the length of time something has existed, or a specific period in history.
n. The length of time that a person has lived or a thing has existed. It can also refer to a particular period of history or of a person's life.
He is the same age as me.
The insurance premium increases with the age of the driver.
Despite his chronological age, his mind remained as sharp and inquisitive as that of a man half his years.
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ey- Proto-Indo-European *h₂óyu Proto-Italic *aiwom Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts Proto-Italic *-tāts Proto-Italic *aiwotāts Vulgar Latin aetās Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Vulgar Latin -ātus Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Italic *-kos Vulgar Latin -cus Vulgar Latin -icus Vulgar Latin -āticus Vulgar Latin -āticum Vulgar Latin *aetāticum Old French eagebor. Middle English age English age From Middle English age, Old French aage, eage, edage, from an assumed Vulgar Latin aetāticum, derived from Latin aetātem, itself derived from aevum (“lifetime”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₂eyu- (“vital force”). Compare French âge. Displaced native Old English ieldu. The verb is from Middle English agen, from the noun. Originally found mostly as a participial adjective, probably an adjective in -ed, derived from the noun, reanalyzed to create a verb; perhaps modeled on such pairs as Latin senēscō (seneō; verb) / senex (adjective) and Middle French vieillir (verb) / vieil (adjective). Also compare Old French se aagier, eogier (“become of age”).
Uncountable when referring to the abstract quality of being old ('wine improves with age'). Countable when referring to a specific number of years ('at the age of ten') or a historical period ('the Stone Age').
How age are you?How old are you?To ask about someone's age, use the adjective 'old', not the noun 'age'.