agile

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French agile (“able to move quickly and easily”), recorded in French from about 1327, and directly borrowed from Latin agilis (“nimble, swift, quick, active”),^[2][3][4][5] formed from agō (“to drive, set in motion, do”) with the suffix -ilis.^[2][4][6] The Latin verb is from Proto-Indo-European *ag- (“to drive, draw out, move”).^[3][7] The word is related to agent, act and agility.^[5][2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Able to move quickly and easily, nimble: before 1500, in Andrew of Wyntoun's Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland (written about 1425).^[2] Merriam-Webster dates it to the 14th century and the Shorter Oxford to late Middle English,^[4][9] while Barnhart and Etymonline put it in 1581 and the 1580s.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

In 16th-century theology agile described the glorified body of the resurrection, able to move instantly from place to place (1552–1667).^[2] The sense "mentally quick, alert" is recorded from 1599,^[2] and since about 1635 the word was used of air or liquids, "thin, subtle", now rare.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "nimble; ready; having the quality of being speedily put in motion; active", quoting the agile heels of Henry IV.^[10] In business, from 1979, agile describes a company or product able to adapt quickly to customers and the market,^[2] and Collins records it for a project-management system in which teams adapt their work in response to regular feedback.^[11]

Timeline

• before 1500 – able to move quickly and easily (Wyntoun).^[2]
• 1552 – theology, of the glorified body (obsolete after 1667).^[2]
• 1581 – first date in Barnhart.^[5]
• 1599 – mentally quick, alert.^[2]
• c. 1635 – of air or liquid, thin, subtle.^[2]
• 1979 – business, adaptable to change.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Able to move quickly and easily; nimble: an agile climber.^{[11][4][12][2]}
2. Mentally quick, alert and resourceful: an agile debater.^{[11][4][12][2]}
3. Of a business or product: able to change quickly in response to customers and the market; in particular, using a project-management method in which teams adapt their work through regular feedback.^[2][11]

Word family

• agilely
• agileness
• agility

Related words

• agent
• act
• agitate

Usage notes

British speakers usually say /ˈædʒaɪl/ and Americans /ˈædʒəl/.^[13][2]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
13. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press