ago English · revision 2328

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1314|origins=ang āgān}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /əˈɡəʊ/, US /əˈɡoʊ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|ago]], short for [[m|enm|agon]], the past participle of the Middle English verb [[m|enm|agon|t=to pass away, go by]],^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) [[inh|ang|āgān|t=to go away, (of time) pass]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) formed from the perfective or intensive prefix [[m|ang|ā-]] and [[m|ang|gān|t=to go]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(MW Collegiate) So it originally meant “gone”.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Gone by, past, of a period of time: about 1314.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) The Old English verb ''āgān'' is recorded about 897 in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Ago'' began as an adjective qualifying a noun of time, as in ''an hour ago''.^(SOED 2002) It always follows its noun, and so it came to be understood as an adverb.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989) The adverb “in the past”, as in ''long ago'', is recorded from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and Chaucer also has ''yore ago''.^(OED 1989) The verb itself, in the senses “to go away” and “of time, to pass”, died out by the late 17th century.^(SOED 2002) The longer form ''agone'', as in Shakespeare's “an hour agone” (''Twelfth Night''), survives only in dialect and archaic use.^(SOED 2002)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 897 – Old English ''āgān'' (''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1314 – adjective, gone by.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1366 – ''long ago''.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 17th century – the verb ''ago'' last recorded.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Before the present time; in the past: ''two years ago''.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Gone by; [[past]]: ''long ago''.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[long ago]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[go]]

+ * [[agone]]

+ * [[gone]]

+ * [[bygone]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}