agate 
lines to the foot. It is used chiefly in news- 
papers. In Great Britain it is known as ruby. 
This line is printed in agate. 
4. An instrument used by bookbinders for pol- 
ishing; a burnisher, lleffl/rafk. Com. Diet. 
5. A child's playing-marble made of agate, or 
of glass in imitation of agate. 
agate-glass (ag'at-glas), . A variegated glass 
made by melting together waste pieces of col- 
ored glass. 
agate-shell (ag'at-shel), . A popular name 
of certain large shells of the genus Aclnitiiia 
(which see). 
agate-snail (ag'at-snal), n. A species of the 
genus Acliatina (which see). 
agate-ware (ag'at-war), n. In ceram., pottery 
mottled and veined as if in imitation of agate, 
the coloring going through the whole substance. 
Agathis (ag'a-this), . [NL., < Or. ayafli'f, a 
ball of thread.] 1. lu bot., the older and now 
accepted name for the genus of Coniform com- 
monly known as Dammara (which see). 2. 
In rod?., a genus of ichneumon-flies, of the 
family Braconidce. Latreille, 1804. 
agathism (ag'a-thizm), n. [< Gr. ayaBof, good, 
r -ism.'] The doctrine that all things tend to- 
ward ultimate good. 
agathist (ag'a-thist), n. [< Gr. ayMc,, good, + 
-int.] One who holds the doctrine of agathism. 
agathocacological (ag'a - tho- kak'6-loi'i-kal), 
a. [< Gr. ayatitif, good, + Kax6(, bad, 4- -/toy/a 
(-7ioyiK6(), (.teyeiv, speak: see -ology.] Com- 
posed of good and evil ; pertaining to both good 
and evil. Southey, Doctor, I. 120. 
agathodsemon (ag*a-th6-de'mon), n. [X Gr. 
ayaBodaifiav, prop, written separately aya8of 
daifiuv : ayaOuf. good ; iaipuv, spirit, demon : 
see demon.] A good genius or spirit; a male 
divinity corresponding to the female Agathe 
Tyc)te, or Good Fortune. At Athens, and elsewhere 
in ancient Oreece, it was customary at the end of a meal 
to pour out in his honor a libation of pure wine. 
agathodsemonic (ag"a-th6-de-mon'ik), a. [< 
Gr. (i-yadodai/juv. stieagatliodatmon and demonic.] 
Relating to or of the nature of an agathodae- 
mon ; pertaining to an agathoda'tnon, 
agathopoietic (ag"a-th6-poi-et'ik), a. [Prop. 
agitthopceetic or -poetic, < Gr. ayaffovotelv, do 
good, < 0)006$, good, + Troieiv, do: see poetic.] 
Intended to do good; benevolent. Bentham. 
[Bare.] 
Agathosma (ag-a-thoz'ma), n. [< Gr. aya06i;, 
good, + bany, earlier oSfii/, smell, akin to L. odor : 
see odor. ] A large genus of plants, natural or- 
der Rutacete, natives of the Cape of Good Hope. 
The Hottentots mix the dried and powdered leaves of A. 
C'chella with the grease with which they smear their 
ies, giving them a smell intolerable to Europeans. 
Several species are cultivated for their flowers. 
agatiferous (ag-a-tif 'e-rus), a. [< agate% + 
-i-ferous, < L.ferre = 'E. bear!.] Containing or 
producing agates. Craig. 
agatiform (ag'a-ti-form), a. [< agate% + -i- 
form,< L. forma, form.] Having the form of 
an agate ; resembling an agate in appearance, 
agatine (ag'a-tin), a. [< a</rtte 2 + -ine 1 .] Per- 
taining to or resembling agate. 
agatize (ag'a-tiz), v. t. ; pret. and pp. agatized, 
ppr. agatizing. [< agate^ + -izc.~] To change 
into agate. Also spelled agatine Agatized 
wood, siliclfled wood in the form of agate, 
agaty (ag'a-ti), a. (X agate 1 * + -y.] 
ture of or resembling agate : as, 
flint," JToodtrard. 
Agave (a-ga've),. [NL., 
< Gr. ayavii, noble, used 
also as a proper name, 
'Ayavfj, L. Agaue, Agave; 
fern, of ayavof, noble, 
illustrious, akin to yaieiv, 
be proud, rejoice, and 
to L. gaudium, joy.] A 
large North American ge- 
nus of plants, of the nat- 
ural order Amaryllidacea>, 
chiefly Mexican. They are 
acaulescent or nearly so, of slow 
growth, often large, consisting of 
a dense cluster of rigid fleshy 
leaves, which are spine-tipped 
and usually spinosely toothed. 
The best-known species is the 
century-plant, or American aloe. 
A. Americana, first introduced 
from Mexico into Europe in 1561. 
and now frequently cultivated 
for ornament, as are also various 
other species. It lives many 
years, 10 to 50 or more, before 
flowering whence the name cenh,ry.piant ( 
century-plant. At maturity it Am,ncana} 
108 
throws up rapidly from its center a tall scape bearing alarge 
compound Infloretcenoe, and ilie.s after perfecting its fruit. 
It is extensively cultivated in Mexico under the name of 
Mii'iui'ii, mid is put to many uses. The sap, obtained in 
abundance from the plant when the flm\ ei -in^ stem is just 
ready to burst forth, produces wlu-n fermented a beverage 
resembling cider, called by the Mexicans pulque. An ex- 
tract of the leaves is used as a substitute for soap, and the 
Mower-stem, when withered, is cut up into slices to form 
razor-strops. The leaves of nearly all the species yield a 
more or less valuable fil>er, which is made into thread and 
ropes and has been used in the manufacture of paper. Sisal 
hemp, or henequin, is the product of A. Ixtli, and is ex- 
ported in large quantities from Yucatan. A West Indian 
species, A. Keratto, closely resembling A. Americana, 
yields the keratto fiber. A. Virginica, of the southern 
I'nited States, known as false aloe, belongs to a group of 
species with less rigid leaves and with the solitary flowers 
in a simple spike. 
agaze (a-gaV), prep. phr. as adv. or a. [< ME. 
a gase ': a, E. a3; 170*6, E. gaze."] On the gaze; 
in a gazing attitude. 
agazedt (a-gazd'), p. a. [< ME. aganecl ; prob. 
same as dgast, modified toward gaze : see agast, 
aghast, and gaze. The examples cited below 
are the only ones found.] Aghast; astonished. 
The [they! were so sore atfased. 
Chester Plays, ii. 85. 
Whereatt this dreadful conquerour 
Thereatt was sore agazed. 
Percy's Folio MSS. (ed. Hales and Furnivall), iii. l.->4. 
As ankered faste my spirites doe all resort* 
To stand agazed, and sink in more and more. 
Surrey, Songes and Sonnettes (1557). 
Of understanding rob'd, I stand agaz'd. (1600.) 
In E. Fart's Select Poetry (1845), II. 438. (A". E. D.) 
The French exclaim'd. The devil was in armes ; 
All the whole army stood agaz'd on him. 
Shak., 1 Hen. VI., i. 1. 
age (aj), n. [< ME. age, later sometimes, in OF. 
spelling, aege, eage, aage, < OF. aage, eage, ear- 
lier edage, F. dge = Pr. atge, < ML. *<etaticum, 
< L. (eta (/-), age (> OF. <), a contr. of earlier 
atrita(t~)s, which reappears in ML. in the sense 
of eternity (of. atternun, eternal: see eternal 
and eternity), < rerum, OL. aevont = Gr. alum 
("alpuv), a period of existence, an age, a life- 
time, a long space of time, eternity (see aton, 
eon), = Goth, aiws, an age, eternity (ace. aiic, 
used adverbially, ever, with neg., t aiw, never), 
= AS. a = Icel. ei, E. aye, ever, = AS. eeu>, <?, 
age 
lowing a younger ago for wills of personal property, and 
also for females or for married women. 
He iiofage, ask him. 
John ix. 21. 
4. The particular period of life at which one be- 
comes naturally or conventionally qualified or 
disqualified for anything: as, at 46 a man is 
over age and cannot be enlisted; under age for 
the presidency ; canonical age (which see, be- 
low). 
Sara . . . was delivered of a child when she was past 
age. Heb. xi. 11. 
5. Specifically, old age (see 1); the latter part 
of life or of long-continued existence ; the lapse 
of time, especially as affecting a person's physi- 
cal or mental powers; the state of being old; 
oldness. 
The eyes of Israel were dim for affe. Gen. xlviii. 10. 
Affe cannot wither her, nor custom stale 
Her infinite variety. Shak., A. and C., ii. 2. 
6. An aged person, or old people collectively. 
And age in love loves not to have years told. 
Shale., Sonnets, cxxxviii. 
7. One of the periods or stages of development 
into which human life may be divided ; time of 
life : as, life is divided into four ages, infancy, 
youth, manhood or womanhood, and old age. 
All the world's a stage, 
And all the men and women merely players : 
They have their exits, and their entrances ; 
And one man in his time plays many parts, 
His acts being seven ages. 
Shak., As you Like it, ii. 7. 
Just at the age 'twixt boy and youth, 
When thought is speech and speech is truth. 
Scott, Marmion, Int. to ii. 
8. A particular period of history, as distin- 
guished from others ; a historical epoch : as, the 
golden age; the age of heroes; the age of Peri- 
cles; the dramatists of the Elizabethan age. 
See ages in mythology and Malory, below. 
Intent on her, who, rapt in glorious dreams, 
The second-sight of some Astraian ".'/ 
Sat compass'd with professors. 
Tennyson, Princess, ii. 
Our nineteenth century is the age of tools. 
Et/ierton, Works and Days. 
9. In geol., a great period of the history of the 
earth, characterized by the development of 
life, custom, law,' marriage: see ayl, aye*.} some particular phase of organic life or of phys- 
1 . The length of time during which a being or ! cal e& ti *, the age of reptiles ; the age of 
thing has existed ; length of life or existence to 
the time spoken of ; period or stage of life in 
the history of an individual existence, animate 
or inanimate : as, his age is twenty years ; he 
died at the age of eighty ; at your age you 
should know better ; a tree or a building of un- 
known age ; to live to a great age ; old age. 
Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age. 
Luke iii. 23. 
ner- 
e in- 
2. Duration of existence, specifically or ge 
ally ; the lifetime of an individual, or of th< 
dividuals of a class or species on an average : 
as, the age of the horse is from twenty-five to 
thirty years. 
What fame is left for human deeds 
In endless age? Tennyson, In Mem., Ixxiii. 
The ages of the patriarchs before the flood have been a 
subject of critical dispute. Am. Cyc., I. 181. 
3. A period of human life usually marked by 
a certain stage of physical or mental develop- 
ment ; especially, a degree of development, ap- 
proximately or presumptively measured by 
years from birth, which involves responsibility 
to law and capacity to act with legal effect: as, 
the age of discretion or of maturity (the former 
technically occurring some years prior to the 
latter, about the age of fourteen). More specifically, 
of age, full age, or lawful age designates the attainment of 
majority, or that period when the general disabilities of in- 
fancy cease. It is fixed by the law of England and of most of 
the United States at 21 (in some States at 18 for females), but 
in Germany and some other European states at 24 or 25. At 
common law one is of full age the first instant of the begin- 
ning of the day before the 21st anniversary of one's birth. 
Other periods are fixed for special purposes : thus, the age 
of consent for marriage was fixed by the common law at 14 
for males and 12 for females, not as being a marriafftotU 
age in the ordinary sense of being a suitable age for mar- 
riage, but as being the age after which one contracting mar- 
riage could not justly repudiate its obligations on the mere 
ground of youth. For the purposes of consent which will 
preclude charges of abduction and the like, the age of mn- 
eent has been fixed in some jurisdictions at 18. Up to the 
age of 7 a child is conclusively presumed to be incapable 
of criminal intent ; from 7 to 14 (in some jurisdictions 12) 
it is presumed to be incapable of such intent, but the con- 
trary may be proved ; over that age it is presumed to be 
capable of such intent. At 12 the capacity to take the oath 
of allegiance begins. The atje of discretion, in the sense 
in which the term is used in the law of infancy, is 14, after 
which the child's wishes as to the choice of a guardian are 
consulted (sometimes called the age of election) ; and the 
entire period before the age of 14 is called the age </;' mir- 
tiif< . The age at which testamentary capacity begins in 
most of the United States is 21, with exceptions, many Hi- 
ice. In Dana's scheme of classification, the Silurian is 
the age of invertebrates, the Devonian the age of fishes, 
the Mesozoic the age of reptiles, the Tertiary the age of 
mammals, and the Quaternary the age of man. 
10. The people who live at a particular period ; 
hence, a generation or a succession of gene- 
rations: as, ages yet unborn. 11. [Cf. L. sce- 
< nl a in. an age, a century: see secular.] A cen- 
tury; the period of one hundred years, as in 
the phrases dark ages, middle ages, etc. 
Henry . . . justly and candidly apologizes for these five 
ages. Hallam. 
12. A great length of time ; a protracted period : 
as, I have not seen you for an age. 
So rose within the compass of the year 
An age's work, a glorious theatre. 
Dryden, Pal. and Arc., 1. 1067. 
Suffering thus he made 
Minutes an age. Tennyson, Geraint. 
13. In poker, the eldest hand, or the first 
player to the left of the dealer who bets Age of 
acrbgens. See arny/rn. Age of the moon, the time 
elapsed since her last conjunction with the sun. Ages in 
mythology and history, particular periods in the life 
of mankinu distinguished by bearing specific names. The 
most important of these periods are : (a) The poetic di- 
vision of human existence into the golden, silver, heroic 
(generally omitted), brazen, and iron ages, accredited to 
Hesiod (about the eighth century B. C.), who regarded the 
people of the different ages as constituting distinct races 
successively replacing each other. See extract. The terms 
are still in use, especially golden age, which is applied to 
the culminating or most brilliant epoch of any portion of 
history or department of activity: as, the seventeenth 
century was the golden age of the drama ; the nineteenth 
century is the golden age of invention ; the golden age of 
a country's power or prosperity. 
The golden age [of Hesiod], synchronous with the reign 
of Saturn, was a period of patriarchal simplicity, when 
the earth yielded its fruits spontaneously and spring was 
eternal ; the xiluer age, governed by Jupiter, was a law- 
less time, in which the seasons were first divided, agricul- 
ture took its rise, and men began to hold property in 
land ; the brazen age, or reign of Neptune, was an epoch 
of war and violence ; in the heroic age (omitted by Ovid) 
the world began to aspire toward better things; and in 
the iron or Plutonian age, in which Hesiod believed him- 
self to be living, justice and piety had disappeared from 
the earth. Am. Cyc., I. 185. 
(b) The dark ages, a period of European history, begin- 
ning with or shortly before the fall of the Roman Empire 
of the West (A. D. 476), marked by a general decline of 
learning and civilization. It was introduced by the great 
influx of barbarians into western Europe in the fourth 
and fifth centuries known as the wandering of the na- 
tions, and is reckoned by Hallam as extending to the 
eleventh century, when a general revival of wealth, man- 
ners, taste, anil learning began, and by others to the time 
