Etymologically
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âge

Etymology and origin of the French word âge

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Confidence
Probable
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (edage)
Inherited from
Latin *aetaticum via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (aevum)

Pronunciation

Forms

âge m (plural âges)[1] Old French edage, eage and aage, aage was still written in the 16th and 17th centuries, beside âge with a circumflex.[2][3][4] Old French also had edet, edé and aé, the direct outcome of the Latin accusative aetātem.[2][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French eage, inherited from Vulgar Latin *aetāticum, from Latin aetās (“lifetime; time of life”).[2][4][3][1] Bloch and Wartburg, and Rey as an alternative, form it instead in French from Old French aé (from “aetātem”), a short form that it soon pushed out; this “-age” word was made only in northern France.[5][2][6] Latin “aetās” is a derivative of aevum (“time, duration; life”), also the source of aeternus (“eternal”), and continues an Indo-European name of duration and vital force, “*ai-w-”, seen in Ancient Greek αἰών (aiṓn).[2][6]

The other Romance languages continue “aetātem”: Italian età, Catalan edat, Spanish edad, Portuguese idade.[6][5] Littré gives Picard ache and Old Occitan atge.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland has edage in the sense “life, lifetime”: Qui durerat à trestout ton edage (“which will last all your life”).[7][2]

Semantic evolution

The sense “time a person has lived” appears in 1160 and is now the main one.[2] Old French also used aage for legal majority (1180), until the 17th century, and the word once meant a generation (16th century), old age (14th–17th centuries) and youth (1636), senses since lost.[2] As a stage of life it formed many phrases: bas âge (1538), bel âge “youth” (1669), âge tendre (1680), d'un certain âge (La Bruyère, late 17th century), entre deux âges (15th century) and troisième âge “old age” (1966).[2]

From Wace onwards it also meant a period of history: doré aage (about 1320) gave way to âge d'or in the later 17th century, and âge d'airain is from 1559.[2] Âge de pierre and âge de bronze are in Larousse in 1866, and in 1882 Gabriel de Mortillet recommended âge de la pierre to avoid mythical overtones.[2] Moyen âge for the period between Antiquity and the Renaissance may be a calque of English middle age.[2] In Quebec l'âge d'or is old age and retirement.[2]

English took age from French in the 14th century.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Edage “lifetime”, in the Chanson de Roland.[7][3]
  • 1160 – The time a person has lived.[2]
  • 1180 – Aage “legal majority”.[2]
  • c. 1320 – Doré aage “golden age”.[2]
  • 14th century – English age is borrowed.[6]
  • 16th century – The spelling âge with a circumflex.[2]
  • 1538 – Bas âge.[2]
  • 1866 – Âge de pierre and âge de bronze in Larousse.[2]
  • 1966 – Troisième âge.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. age, the time a person has lived: quel âge a-t-il ?, il ne fait pas son âge.[6][3]
  2. A stage of life: bas âge, âge mûr, troisième âge.[6][2]
  3. Old age: un homme d'âge, d'un certain âge.[2][6]
  4. (dated except in phrases) Life, its length: à la fleur de l'âge.[6]
  5. An era, a period of history or prehistory: l'âge d'or, l'âge de pierre, le Moyen Âge.[2]
  6. (Quebec) L'âge d'or: old age, the years of retirement.[2]

Word family

  • âgé
  • anti-âge
  • âgisme

Usage notes

A separate dialect word âge, the beam of a plough, is a form of haie from Frankish *hagja, recorded in 1801.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 r s t u v w x Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Âge.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/%C3%A2ge. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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