noun / verb
age
AYJ/eɪdʒ/
The stage reached as time passes in a life or existence.
The grandparent's and grandchild's hands reveal their difference in age.
Etymology
Latin aetas meant a lifetime or period of life. That connection survives in age as the amount of time a person or thing has lived or existed.
In context
in 1970 the average US woman had her first baby age 21 and this increased to age 27 by 2022 so the time that we typically have our first baby has increased by six years
More examples
- Children of school age can join the program.
- The cheese ages in a cool room below the dairy.
- She has aged gracefully over the years.
Forms
age · ages · aged · aging
Similar words
- maturity
- Emphasizes development or readiness rather than elapsed years.
- lifetime
- Means the entire duration of existence rather than the current stage.