Etymologically
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agility

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /əˈd͡ʒɪl.ɪ.ti/, /əˈd͡ʒɪl.ə.ti/[1]
  • US: /əˈd͡ʒɪl.ə.ti/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English agilite,[2][3][4] borrowed from Middle French agilité and directly borrowed from Latin agilitās (“ease of movement, nimbleness”),[5][6][7][8] formed from agilis (“nimble, quick”) and the suffix -tās.[5][4] Merriam-Webster gives the intermediate as Anglo-Norman agilitee.[4] The adjective comes from agō (“to set in motion, drive”), from Proto-Indo-European *ag- (“to drive, draw out, move”).[7] The French word is recorded in the theological sense from before 1358, in general use from about 1370, and earlier of the lightness of air (about 1327).[5] The OED compares Spanish agilidad and Italian agilità.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In theology, the power of the glorified human body to move instantly from place to place, one of its four endowments: before 1425, in Wyclif's Select English Works.[5][2] This sense is last recorded in 1624.[5] Etymonline dates the word to the early 15th century, in the sense "nimbleness, quickness".[7]

Semantic evolution

The theological sense came from post-classical Latin, which used the word so from the 13th century.[5] Of the mind, "quick-wittedness", is recorded from about 1450,[5][7] and of the body, "nimbleness, dexterity", from about 1475, although the MED already has bodily swiftness among its senses.[5][2] Johnson (1755) defined it as nimbleness and readiness to move.[9] In the 20th century business writing took it up for a company's ability to respond quickly to customers and markets, from 1969 in the Financial Times.[5] In 19th-century British slang agility was a euphemism for the vagina.[10]

Timeline

  • before 1425 – in theology, the ability of the glorified body to move instantly (obsolete by 1624).[5]
  • c. 1450 – quickness of mind.[5][7]
  • c. 1475 – nimbleness of body.[5]
  • 1846 – in slang, a euphemism for the vagina.[10]
  • 1969 – in business, adaptability to customers and markets.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The ability to move quickly and easily; nimbleness: the agility of a goat on a cliff.[5][4][6]
  2. Quickness and resourcefulness of mind: her agility in argument.[5][4]
  3. (business) The ability to change quickly in response to customers and the market; adaptability.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com