age 
of Dante In the thirteenth century, or Inter, (c) Tin- mill- 
die aifet, A period of ulnmt a thousand years, between 
the close of what is technically considered ancient his- 
tory and the tlrst definite movements in Knrope of the 
distinctively modern spirit of freedom and enterprise. Its 
lii-inninn is synchronous with that of tin; dark aces, and 
it is variously reckoned as c\lrndiim til the fall of Con- 
stantinople (MM), tin- (mention of printing, the Kenais 
sanre, or the discovery of America, in the fifteenth cen- 
tury, or to the Reformation, in the early part of the 
sixteenth, (d) The feudal .'/>*. a portion of the middle 
ages, marked by the prevalence of feudal institutions and 
of the spirit of chivalry, extending from their nearly uni- 
versal establishment in the tenth century to their decline 
in the sixteenth. - Archaeological ages or periods, the 
stone age, the bronze age, and the iron Hue. these names 
109 
The a;if>l man that cotfers up bis gold 
Is plau'ii d with cramps and gouU and painful fits. 
Hlnllc., l.llereee, 1. 8U. 
It is a meat misfortune to us of the more elderly sort, 
that \ve were bred to the constant lute of words in English 
children's books, which were without nit-atiinLT for us and 
only mystilied us. <>. II'. //.,//, *, (lid Vol. of Life, p. 17:!. 
You arc "I'l : 
Nature in you stands on the very verge 
(If her routine. Shalt., Lear, ii. I. 
change "The Ani'ii'iit Mariner" to "The Old Sailor," 
and you throw the mind into a mood utterly inharmonious 
with the tone of Coleridge's wonderful poem. 
A. S. Hill, Rhetoric. 
agedly (a'jed-li), rule. Like an aged person, 
agedness (a'jed-nes), . The state or condition 
of being old; olduess. 
Custom without truth is but agedness of error. 
MHton, Reform, of Church Discipline, i. 2<>. 
agee (a-je'), prep. phr. as adv. or a. Same as 
ajee. 
ageing, n. See aging. 
Agelaeinae (aj'e-lf-rne), . pi. [NL., < Age- 
lu'iix + -hia'.] A subfamily of American oscine 
Implements of the Stone Age. 
1. saw-edged flint knife ; z, crescent-shaped flint knife ; 3, stone ax ; 
4, flint flask-knife ; 5, harpoon-head of flint; 6, flint knife. 
being given in accordance with the materials employed 
for weapons, implements, etc., during the particular pe- 
riod. The stone age has been subdivided into two, the 
paleolithic and neolithic. (See these words.) The word 
age in this sense is improperly used (by an unfortunate 
transfer from the Scandinavian archaeology), since it has 
no reference to chronology, but simply denotes the stage 
at which a people has arrived in its progress toward civil- 
ization. There are tribes yet in their stone age. Neither 
do the more primitive implements necessarily disappear 
wholly on the appearance of those of a more advanced 
stage. The phrase stone aye or stage, therefore, merely 
marks the most primitive period, and bronze age (chiefly 
in antiquity) that before the employment of iron, among 
any specified people or tribe. Canonical age. (a) In 
the Rom. Cath. Cft.,that age fixed by the churcn at which 
her subjects incur, or become capable of assuming, special 
obligations, states of life, etc., or of enjoying special priv- 
ileges and dignities. Thus, the obligation of fastmg begins 
at twenty-one ; profession by religious vows is made only 
after the age of sixteen ; and to become a bishop one should 
have completed his thirtieth year. The age of reason is 
that at which a child becomes morally responsible, sup- 
posed, in the majority of cases, to be about seven, (b) In 
Anglican churches, the age at which a man may lie or- 
dained to any one of the three grades of the ministry. 
Dark ages. See above. Fabulous age. See fabulous. 
Geological ages. See above, 9. Muddle ages. See 
above. The age Of a horse, in racing and trotting rules, 
is reckoned from January 1st of the year of foaling. Other 
dates, as May-day, were formerly used. = Syn. Era, Period, 
etc. (see epoch), date ; years, eon, cycle. 
age (aj), v. ; pret. and pp. aged, ppr. aging. [< 
ME. agen, agijn, < age, n.J I. intrans. To grow 
old ; assume the appearance of old age : as, he 
ages rapidly. 
I am aginff ; that is, I have a whitish, or rather a light- 
eoloured hair here and there. Landor. 
II. trails. To make old; cause to grow or 
to seem old ; produce the effect of age upon ; 
bring to maturity or to a state fit for use ; give 
the character of age or ripeness to : as, to age 
wine, clay, etc. 
-age. [< ME. -age, < OF. -age, mod. F. -age = 
Pr. -atge = Sp. -age = It. -aggio and -atico, < L. 
-dticum, a noun suffix, orig. neut. of -dticus, adj. 
suffix. For examples see savage, voyage, etc.] 
A noun suffix of French, ultimately of Latin 
origin. Frequent in words taken from the French, as 
language, savage, voyage, pottage, baggage, etc., it has 
come to be a common English formative, forming, (a) from 
names of things, collective nouns, as fruitage, leafage, 
baggage, etc.; (b) from personal terms, nouns denoting 
condition, office, rank, service, fee, etc., as bondage, parson- 
Z, porterage, etc. ; (c) from verbs, nouns expressing va- 
is relations, as breakage, cleavage, pontage, steerage, etc. 
aged (a'jed, sometimes ajd), p. a. [ME. aged, 
<igyd; < age, v., + -( 2 .] 1. Old ; having lived 
or existed long; having reached an advanced 
period of life : as, an aged man ; an aged oak. 
Shall aged men, like aged trees, 
Strike deeper their vile root, and closer cling, 
Still more enamour'd of their wretched soil '! 
Young, Night Thoughts, iv. 111. 
[Under English racing rules, a horse is said to be aged 
(pron. ajd) when he is more than seven years old.l 
2. Of the age of: as, a man aged forty years. 
3. Pertaining to or characteristic of old age. 
These bitter tears, which now you see 
Filling the agt-d wrinkles in my cheeks. 
Shak., Tit. And., iii. 1. 
= Syn. 1. Aged, Elderly, Old, Ancient. Old is thegeneral 
word for being near to the natural end, or having nearly 
reached the usual period, of life : as, a cat is ul<l at twelve 
years. Eltti'i-ht is rather "lit, beginning!*) be old. .!:/</ is 
very old. Ancient is so old as to seem to belong to a past 
age. (See other comparisons under ant-n'nt.) 
agent 
agendt (ii'jend), . Same as tii/i-Hiliim (c). 
agendum (a-jen'dum), n. ; pi. agenda (-da). 
[L., something to be done, neut. of agmtaus, 
gerundive of agrre, do: see agent, act.] A 
thing to be done : usually in the plural, things 
to be done; duties. Specifically - (a) Items of busi- 
ness to be brought before a committee, council, board, etc. , 
as things to be done, (b) Matters of practice, as opposed 
to credenda, or matters of belief. 
The moral and religious credenda and agenda of any 
good man. Coleridge. 
Especially (<-t) Matters of ecclesiastical practice ; ritual 
or liturgy, (rf) As a collective singular, a memorandum- 
book. [Rare in all uses.] 
agenesia (aj-e-ne'si-a), n. [NL.] Same as 
nil/ nesis. 
agenesic (aj-e-ues'ik), a. [< agenesis + -tc.] 
Pertaining to or characterized by agenesis. 
agenesis (a-jen'e-sis), . [NL., < Gr. a- priv. + 
ytviau;, generation.] In pliysiol., any anomaly 
of organization consisting in the absence or 
imperfect development of parts. Also called 
agenesia. [Bare.] 
Agenia (a-je-ni'a), n. [NL., < Gr. aycveiof, 
beardless, < a- priv. + yevetov, beard, < yevttf = 
E. chin.] In entom., a genus of hymenopterous 
spider-wasps, of the family Pompiliidcp, charae- 
Marsh-Blackbird {Agelaus tricolor). 
passerine birds of the family Icteridai. It is re- 
lated to the conirostral Frinrjillulce, or finches, less nearly 
to the crows, Corvidce, and to some extent it replaces and 
represents in America the old-world Sturnidce, or star- 
lings. The subfamily includes the marsh-blackbirds of the 
genus Agelceus, as the common red-winged blackbird of 
the United States, A. ptieeniceus; the yellow-headed black- 
bird, Xanthocephalus icterocephalus ; the cow-bird, Molo- 
thrus ater; the bobolink, Dohchonyx oryzivorus ; and nu- 
merous related species, chiefly of the warmer parts of 
America. Less correctly written Agelaince. 
Agelaeus (aj-e-le'us), n. [NL., < Gr. aye'Aalor., 
belonging to a herd, gregarious, < aypai, a herd 
(L. grejc), < ayav, drive.] The typical genus 
of blackbirds of the subfamily Agelceince ; the 
marsh-blackbirds. There are several species, such as 
A. phceniteuji, the common red-winged marsh-blackbird 
of the L^nited States, and A. tricolor of California. Also 
spelled Agelaim, as originally by Vieillot, 1816. 
agelast (aj'e-last), . [< Gr. aytrMaroc,, not 
laughing, < a- priv. + ye/iaordf, verbal adj. of 
yehav, laugh.] One who never laughs. [Bare.] 
Men whom Rabelais would have called aaelasts, or non- 
laughers. London Times, Feb. 5, 1877. (X. E. D.) 
Agelena, Agelenidse. See Agalena, Agalenidw. 
ageless (aj'Tes), a. [< aye, n., + -less.'] Without 
age ; without definite limits of existence, 
agemina (a-jem'i-na), n. Same as azzimina. 
agen (a-gen'), ado", prep., and conj. An old 
spelling of again, still occasionally used. 
Borne far asunder by the tides of men, 
Like adamant and steel they meet agen. 
Dryden, Pal. and Arc., i. 
agency (a'jen-si), n. ; pi. agencies (-siz). [= F. 
agence, < ML. agentm, < L. agen(t-)s, ppr. of 
agere, act: see agent.] 1. The state of being 
in action or of exerting power ; action ; opera- 
tion ; instrumentality. 
The ayeney of providence in the natural world. 
Woodward, Pref. to Ess. toward Nat. Hist, of Earth. 
For the first three or four centuries we know next to 
nothing of the course by which Christianity moved, and 
the events through which its agency was developed. 
l)e Quincey, Essenes, i. 
2. A mode of exerting power ; a means of pro- 
ducing effects. 
But although the introduction of a fluid as an Agent ex- 
plains nothing, the Huid as an Agency i, e., its hydrody- 
namic laws explains much. 
ff. //. Lewe, Probs. of Life and Mind, I. i. | 92. 
Opinion is the agency through which character adapts 
external arrangements to itself. 
//. Spencer, Social Statics, p. 517. 
3. The office of agent or factor; the business 
of an agent intrusted with the concerns of 
another: as, the principal pays the charges of 
inji IIKIJ. 4. The place of business of an agent. 
In the I'uitcd states, frequently used in the sense of an 
liii/in/i fi:n'ni-i/. an otlicc or settlement in or near the res- 
ervation of an Indian tribe, at which resides an Indian 
:t-i nt nf tin- ^n\ i rnment, charged with the interests of the 
tfihc and tlic i a) v of the relations of the government to it: 
as, the Pawnee agency. Free agency. See free. 
^fent'a bornbycina (Cresson). 
a, cell constructed by the wasp ; b, female wasp. ( The vertical line 
shows natural size. } 
terized by having smooth legs. The females build 
curious mud cells under logs or under the bark of trees, 
provisioning them with spiders. 
agennesia (aj-e-ne'si-a), n. [NL.] Same as 
agennesis, 
agennesic (aj-e-nes'ik), a. [(.agermeais + -ic.] 
Characterized by sterility or impotence ; per- 
taining to agennesis. 
agennesis (aj-e-ne'sis), n. [NL., < Gr. a- priv. 
T yiwr/aii;, engendering, < yewav, engender.] In 
mcd., want of reproductive power in either sex ; 
impotence of the male or sterility of the female. 
Also called agennesia. [Rare.] 
agennetic (aj-e-net'ik), a. [< agennesis (agen- 
net-) + -ic.] Characterized by sterility; unpro- 
ductive; agennesic: as, an agennetic period. 
agent (a'jent), a. and . [< L. agen(t-)s, ppr. 
of agere, drive, lead, conduct, manage, per- 
form, do, = Gr. ayeiv, lead, conduct, do, = Icel. 
aka, 'drive, = Skt. / aj, drive: see act, etc., and 
cf. ake, acpe 1 , acre.] I. a. Acting: opposed 
to patient in the sense of sustaining action. 
[Bare.] 
The force of imagination upon the body agent. 
Bacon, Nat. Hist., 90'2. 
Agent Intellect. See intellect. 
II. . [< F. agent, < ML. agen(t-)s, a deputy, 
attorney, factor, etc., substantive use of L. 
agen(t-)s, ppr. of agere: see above.] 1. An 
active cause; an efficient cause; one who or 
that which acts or has the power to act : as, a 
moral agent; many insects are agents of fertil- 
ization. In ph'is., heat, light, and electricity are called 
iii[''nt.f, in order to avoid hypothesis with regard to their 
nature. In chem. and med., whatever produces a chemical 
or medical effect is called an agent. 
Heaven made us agents free to good or ill, 
And forc'd it not, though he foresaw the will. 
Dryden, Cock and Fox, 1. 538. 
To say that man is a free agent is no more than to say 
that, in some instances, he is truly an agent and a cause, 
and is not merely acted upon as a passive instrument. On 
the contrary, to say that he acts from necessity is to say 
that he does not act at all, that he is no agent, and that, 
for anything we know, there is only one agent in the uni- 
verse, who does everything that is done, whether it be 
good or ill. Reid. 
Thro' many atjents making strong, 
Matures the individual form. 
Tennyson, Love thon thy Land. 
2. A person acting on behalf of another, called 
his principal; a representative; a deputy, fac- 
tor, substitute, or attorney. Often abbreviated 
to agt. In laic, agent implies a kind of service in which 
the one serving lias some discretion as to the manner of 
accomplishing the object. 
