Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Ago
A-go′
,Adj.
& adv.
[OE.
ago
, agon
, p. p. of agon
to go away, pass by, AS. āgān
to pass away; ā-
(cf. Goth. us-
, Ger. er-
, orig. meaning out
) + gān
to go. See Go
.] Past; gone by; since;
as, ten years
ago
; gone long ago
.Webster 1828 Edition
Ago
AGO'
,adv.
Definition 2024
Ago
ago
ago
English
Alternative forms
Adjective
ago (comparative more ago, superlative most ago)
- (archaic or dialectal) Gone; gone by; gone away; passed; passed away.
- in days ago/in days agone
- (archaic or dialectal) Nearly gone; dead (used in Devonshire at the turn of the 19th century)
Usage notes
- Usually follows the noun.
Postposition
ago
- In the past.
- 2013 August 10, “Damned if you don’t”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:
- Two years ago a pair of scientists sparked fears of a devastating virus. [They] separately found ways to make a strain of bird flu called H5N1 more contagious. Critics fretted that terrorists might use this knowledge to cook up a biological weapon. American officials ordered that the papers be redacted. Further research was put on hold. But after much debate, the papers were published in full last year.
- I got married ten years ago. The last slice of cake was gone long ago.
-
Derived terms
Translations
past; gone by; since
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See also
-
Preposition and postposition on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
References
- G. A. Cooke, The County of Devon
Statistics
Most common English words before 1923: green · mouth · generally · #683: ago · easily · condition · sleep
Anagrams
Albanian
Etymology
From Ottoman Turkish آغا (ağa) (compare Turkish ağa) or Greek άγιος (ágios).
Noun
ago m
Esperanto
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈaɡo/
- Hyphenation: a‧go
Noun
ago (accusative singular agon, plural agoj, accusative plural agojn)
Synonyms
- (action): agado
Derived terms
Italian
Etymology
From Latin acus, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”).
Noun
ago m (plural aghi)
Derived terms
- aghetto, aghino (diminutives)
- ago di pino
- agone (augmentative)
Karipúna Creole French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /aˈɡo/
Interjection
ago?
- may I come in?
References
- 1987, Alfred W. Tobler, Dicionário Crioulo Karipúna/Português Português/Crioulo Karípúna, Summer Institute of Linguistics, page 43.
Latin
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *agō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti.
Cognate with Old Irish aigid, Ancient Greek ἄγω (ágō, “I lead”), Old Norse aka (“move, drive”), Avestan 𐬀𐬰𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (azaiti), Sanskrit अजति (ájati, “to drive, propel, cast”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈa.ɡoː/
Verb
agō (present infinitive agere, perfect active ēgī, supine āctum); third conjugation
- I do, act, make, behave
- 63 BCE, Cicero, Catiline Orations (Latin text and English translations here)
- Nihil agis, nihil moliris, nihil cogitas quod non ego non modo audiam sed etiam videam planeque sentiam.
- "You do nothing, you plan nothing, you think of nothing which I not only do not hear, but which I do not see and know every particular of."
- Nihil agis, nihil moliris, nihil cogitas quod non ego non modo audiam sed etiam videam planeque sentiam.
- 405, Jerome and others, Vulgate, Paralipomenon II 32:7
- viriliter agite et confortamini nolite timere nec paveatis regem Assyriorum […]
- "Act strongly and be courageous. Do not fear nor tremble before the king of Assyria"
- viriliter agite et confortamini nolite timere nec paveatis regem Assyriorum […]
- 63 BCE, Cicero, Catiline Orations (Latin text and English translations here)
- I accomplish, manage, achieve
- I perform, transact
- I drive, conduct
- 1877, Sophocles (in translation), Electra, in Aeschyli et Sophoclis: Tragoediae et Fragmenta (Paris: Institutiae Franciae Typographo)
- Interea Orestes postremus omnium ultimo loco equos agebat, in fine certam spem victoriae ponens.
- "Meanwhile, Orestes had been driving in last place and holding his horses back, putting his trust in the finish."
- Interea Orestes postremus omnium ultimo loco equos agebat, in fine certam spem victoriae ponens.
- 1877, Sophocles (in translation), Electra, in Aeschyli et Sophoclis: Tragoediae et Fragmenta (Paris: Institutiae Franciae Typographo)
- I push, move, impel
- I guide, govern, administer
- I discuss, plead, deliberate
- I think upon; I am occupied with
- I stir up, excite, cause, induce
- I chase, pursue
- I drive at, pursue (a course of action)
- I rob, steal, plunder, carry off
- (of time) I pass, spend
- (of offerings) I slay, kill (as a sacrifice)
- (of plants) I put forth, sprout, extend
Inflection
Conjugation of ago (third conjugation) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
indicative | singular | plural | |||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
active | present | agō | agis | agit | agimus | agitis | agunt |
imperfect | agēbam | agēbās | agēbat | agēbāmus | agēbātis | agēbant | |
future | agam | agēs | aget | agēmus | agētis | agent | |
perfect | ēgī | ēgistī | ēgit | ēgimus | ēgistis | ēgērunt, ēgēre | |
pluperfect | ēgeram | ēgerās | ēgerat | ēgerāmus | ēgerātis | ēgerant | |
future perfect | ēgerō | ēgeris | ēgerit | ēgerimus | ēgeritis | ēgerint | |
passive | present | agor | ageris, agere | agitur | agimur | agiminī | aguntur |
imperfect | agēbar | agēbāris, agēbāre | agēbātur | agēbāmur | agēbāminī | agēbantur | |
future | agar | agēris, agēre | agētur | agēmur | agēminī | agentur | |
perfect | āctus + present active indicative of sum | ||||||
pluperfect | āctus + imperfect active indicative of sum | ||||||
future perfect | āctus + future active indicative of sum | ||||||
subjunctive | singular | plural | |||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
active | present | agam | agās | agat | agāmus | agātis | agant |
imperfect | agerem | agerēs | ageret | agerēmus | agerētis | agerent | |
perfect | ēgerim | ēgerīs | ēgerit | ēgerīmus | ēgerītis | ēgerint | |
pluperfect | ēgissem | ēgissēs | ēgisset | ēgissēmus | ēgissētis | ēgissent | |
passive | present | agar | agāris, agāre | agātur | agāmur | agāminī | agantur |
imperfect | agerer | agerēris, agerēre | agerētur | agerēmur | agerēminī | agerentur | |
perfect | āctus + present active subjunctive of sum | ||||||
pluperfect | āctus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum | ||||||
imperative | singular | plural | |||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
active | present | — | age | — | — | agite | — |
future | — | agitō | agitō | — | agitōte | aguntō | |
passive | present | — | agere | — | — | agiminī | — |
future | — | agitor | agitor | — | — | aguntor | |
non-finite forms | active | passive | |||||
present | perfect | future | present | perfect | future | ||
infinitives | agere | ēgisse | āctūrus esse | agī | āctus esse | āctum īrī | |
participles | agēns | — | āctūrus | — | āctus | agendus | |
verbal nouns | gerund | supine | |||||
nominative | genitive | dative/ablative | accusative | accusative | ablative | ||
agere | agendī | agendō | agendum | āctum | āctū |
Derived terms
Derived terms
Related terms
Related terms
Descendants
References
- ago in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ago in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- AGO in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
- Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- to take root: radices agere (De Off. 2. 12. 73)
- to bud, blossom: gemmas agere
- to live (all) one's life (honourably, in the country, as a man of learning): vitam, aetatem (omnem aetatem, omne aetatis tempus) agere (honeste, ruri, in litteris), degere, traducere
- I am in my thirteenth year: tertium decimum annum ago
- to be at one's last gasp: animam agere
- so-and-so is in a very satisfactory position; prospers: agitur praeclare, bene cum aliquo
- to be ruined, undone: praecipitem agi, ire
- a man's life is at stake, is in very great danger: salus, caput, vita alicuius agitur, periclitatur, in discrimine est or versatur
- to thank a person (in words): gratias alicui agere pro aliqua re
- to give thanks to heaven: grates agere (dis immortalibus)
-
(ambiguous) to have all one's trouble for nothing: rem actam or simply actum agere (proverb.)
- to be occupied with business, busy: negotia agere, gerere
- to pass one's life in luxury and idleness: per luxum et ignaviam aetatem agere
- to be inattentive: alias res or aliud agere
- to devote one's life to science, study: aetatem in litteris ducere, agere
- the point at issue: id, de quo agitur or id quod cadit in controversiam
- to recite a poem, line with appropriate action: carmen, versum agere
- to act a play (said of the actors): fabulam agere
- to play the part of some one: partes agere alicuius
- to act the rôle of a slave, pander: agere servum, lenonem
- to represent a thing dramatically: sic exponere aliquid, quasi agatur res (non quasi narretur)
- to gesticulate: gestum (always in the sing.) agere
- the question now is..: nunc id quaeritur, agitur
- to be now jesting, now in earnest: ioca et seria agere
- the book treats of friendship: hic liber est de amicitia (not agit) or hoc libro agitur de am.
- to act reasonably, judiciously: prudenter, considerate, consilio agere (opp. temere, nullo consilio, nulla ratione)
- to be moderate in all things, commit no excess: omnia modice agere
- to have no principles: omnia temere agere, nullo iudicio uti
- to thank, glorify the immortal gods: grates, laudes agere dis immortalibus
- to keep, celebrate a festival: diem festum agere (of an individual)
- to take the auspices, observe the flight of birds: augurium agere, auspicari (N. D. 2. 4. 11)
- the house walls are beginning to crack: domus rimas agit
- to live a lonely life: vitam solitariam agere
- how are you: quid agis?
- what is going on? how are you getting on: quid agitur? quid fit?
- to lay the foundations: fundamenta iacere, agere
- to drive to pasture: pastum agere
- to submit a formal proposition to the people: agere cum populo (Leg. 3. 4. 10)
- the aristocracy (as a party in politics): boni cives, optimi, optimates, also simply boni (opp. improbi); illi, qui optimatium causam agunt
- to be a leading spirit of the popular cause: populi causam agere
- to play the demagogue: populariter agere
- to hold the census: censum habere, agere (Liv. 3. 22)
- to perform the censors' duties: censuram agere, gerere
- to go to law with a person: (ex) iure, lege agere cum aliquo
- to proceed against some one with the utmost rigour of the law; to strain the law in one's favour: summo iure agere cum aliquo (cf. summum ius, summa iniuria)
- to convene the assizes (used of a provincial governor): conventus agere (B. G. 1. 54)
- to conduct a person's case (said of an agent, solicitor): causam alicuius agere (apud iudicem)
- a person's life is in jeopardy: caput alicuius agitur (vid. sect. V. 8)
- to crucify: in crucem agere, tollere aliquem
- to set the army in motion: agmen agere
- to mount guard in the camp: vigilias agere in castris (Verr. 4. 43)
- to keep watch on the rampart: custodias agere in vallo
- to be on duty before the gates: stationes agere pro portis
- to carry off booty: ferre atque agere praedam
- to advance pent-houses, mantlets: vineas agere (B. G. 3. 21)
- to make mines, subterraneous passages: cuniculos agere (B. G. 3. 21)
- to drive the enemy before one: prae se agere hostem
- to triumph over some one: triumphum agere de or ex aliquo or c. Gen. (victoriae, pugnae)
- to treat with some one about peace: agere cum aliquo de pace
- to row: navem remis agere or propellere
-
(ambiguous) I'm undone! it's all up with me: perii! actum est de me! (Ter. Ad. 3. 2. 26)
-
(ambiguous) to have all one's trouble for nothing: rem actam or simply actum agere (proverb.)
-
(ambiguous) it's all over with me; I'm a lost man: actum est de me
- to take root: radices agere (De Off. 2. 12. 73)
Võro
Etymology
Related to Estonian agu.
Noun
ago (genitive ao, partitive ako)
Inflection
Inflection of ago
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | ago | aoq |
accusative | ao | aoq |
genitive | ao | akõ aka |
partitive | ako | akõ aka |
illative | akko | akkõ akkõhe akka akkahe |
inessive | aon aohn |
akõn akan akõhn akahn |
elative | aost | akõst akast |
allative | aolõ | akõlõ akalõ |
adessive | aol | akõl akal |
ablative | aolt | akõlt akalt |
translative | aos | akõs akas |
terminative | aoniq | akõniq akaniq |
abessive | aoldaq | akõldaq akaldaq |
comitative | aogaq | akõgaq akagaq |
Derived terms
- hummogunõ ago
- õdagunõ ago