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the length of time during which a being or thing has existed; length of life or existence to the time spoken of or referred to:
trees of unknown age; His age is 20 years.
a period of human life, measured by years from birth, usually marked by a certain stage or degree of mental or physical development and involving legal responsibility and capacity:
the age of discretion; the age of consent; The state raised the drinking age from 18 to 21 years.
the particular period of life at which a person becomes naturally or conventionally qualified or disqualified for anything:
He was over age for military duty.
one of the periods or stages of human life:
a person of middle age.
advanced years; old age:
His eyes were dim with age.
a particular period of history, as distinguished from others; a historical epoch:
the age of Pericles; the Stone Age; the age of electronic communications.
the period of history contemporary with the span of an individual’s life:
He was the most famous architect of the age.
a generation or a series of generations:
ages yet unborn.
a great length of time:
I haven’t seen you for an age. He’s been gone for ages.
the average life expectancy of an individual or of the individuals of a class or species:
The age of a horse is from 25 to 30 years.
Psychology. the level of mental, emotional, or educational development of a person, especially a child, as determined by various tests and based on a comparison of the individual’s score with the average score for persons of the same chronological age.
Geology.

a period of the history of the earth distinguished by some special feature:
the Ice Age.
a unit of geological time, shorter than an epoch, during which the rocks comprising a stage were formed.

any of the successive periods in human history divided, according to Hesiod, into the golden, silver, bronze, heroic, and iron ages.
Cards.

Poker. the first player at the dealer’s left.
Compare (def 10a).
.

to grow old:
He is aging rapidly.
to mature, as wine, cheese, or wood:
a heavy port that ages slowly.
to make old; cause to grow or seem old:
Fear aged him overnight.
to bring to maturity or a state fit for use:
to age wine.
to store (a permanent magnet, a capacitor, or other similar device) so that its electrical or magnetic characteristics become constant.
to expose (a dye or dyed cloth) to steam or humid air in order to fix the dye.
to stabilize the electrical properties of (a device) by passing current through it.
of age, Law.

being any of several ages, usually 21 or 18, at which certain legal rights, as voting or marriage, are acquired.
being old enough for full legal rights and responsibilities.

a suffix typically forming mass or abstract nouns from various parts of speech, occurring originally in loanwords from French (voyage; courage) and productive in English with the meanings “aggregate” (coinage; peerage; trackage), “process” (coverage; breakage), “the outcome of” as either “the fact of” or “the physical effect or remains of” (seepage; wreckage; spoilage), “place of living or business” (parsonage; brokerage), “social standing or relationship” (bondage; marriage; patronage), and “quantity, measure, or charge” (footage; shortage; tonnage; towage).
Agricultural Engineer.
Associate in General Education.
Contemporary Examples

Inflating his age by a year (in reality turning 20 at the time), Moon was determined make his birthday a smash.
Speed Read: 11 Most Shocking Moments From Pete Townshend’s ‘Who I Am’ Abby Haglage October 7, 2012

The timing that served Pastras so well that he swam in the 2004 Athens Olympics at the age of just 18 has deserted him.
Greece’s Youth in Crisis November 21, 2011

In an age that was all about “sell, sell, sell,” it is no wonder that it had become increasingly acceptable to sell oneself.
Still Looking for Mr. Right Francesca Beauman February 11, 2010

Gia Carangi died in 1986 at age 26 of complications from AIDS.
Olympic Cyclist Dotsie Bausch’s Past as a Model Battling Anorexia and Drug Addiction Jennifer Sky August 10, 2012

“For me as a survivor, it’s a traumatic thing,” says Sara Hunt, who spent three years being trafficked, beginning at age 17.
Sex Trafficking Survivor’s Inspiring Political Run in Portland, OR John Avlon April 2, 2012

Historical Examples

In the opinion of Mr. Harrison, this ‘is the age of accurate translation.
The Quarterly Review, Volume 162, No. 324, April, 1886 Various

If time improve our wit as well as wine, Say at what age a poet grows divine?
Essay on Man Alexander Pope

How a woman of her age can go on with her eyes fixed on these matters I cannot guess.
Heartsease Charlotte M. Yonge

Well, if it be my time to quit the stage, Adieu to all the follies of the age!
Essay on Man Alexander Pope

He was over fifty years of age, and had been Rector of Bowick for nearly twenty.
Dr. Wortle’s School Anthony Trollope

noun
the period of time that a person, animal, or plant has lived or is expected to live: the age of a tree, what age was he when he died?, the age of a horse is up to thirty years
the period of existence of an object, material, group, etc: the age of this table is 200 years

a period or state of human life: he should know better at his age, she had got beyond the giggly age
(as modifier): age group

the latter part of life

a period of history marked by some feature or characteristic; era
(capital when part of a name): the Middle Ages, the Space Age

generation: the Edwardian age
(geology, palaeontol)

a period of the earth’s history distinguished by special characteristics: the age of reptiles
the period during which a stage of rock strata is formed; a subdivision of an epoch

(myth) any of the successive periods in the legendary history of man, which were, according to Hesiod, the golden, silver, bronze, heroic, and iron ages
(often pl) (informal) a relatively long time: she was an age washing her hair, I’ve been waiting ages
(psychol) the level in years that a person has reached in any area of development, such as mental or emotional, compared with the normal level for his chronological age See also achievement age, mental age
age before beauty, (often said humorously when yielding precedence) older people take precedence over younger people
of age, adult and legally responsible for one’s actions (usually at 18 or, formerly, 21 years)
verb ages, ageing, aging, aged
to grow or make old or apparently old; become or cause to become old or aged
to begin to seem older: to have aged a lot in the past year
(brewing) to mature or cause to mature
suffix
indicating a collection, set, or group: acreage, baggage
indicating a process or action or the result of an action: haulage, passage, breakage
indicating a state, condition, or relationship: bondage, parentage
indicating a house or place: orphanage
indicating a charge or fee: postage
indicating a rate: dosage, mileage
n.

late 13c., “long but indefinite period in human history,” from Old French aage (11c., Modern French âge) “age; life, lifetime, lifespan; maturity,” earlier edage, from Vulgar Latin *aetaticum (source of Spanish edad, Italian eta, Portuguese idade “age”), from Latin aetatem (nominative aetas), “period of life, age, lifetime, years,” from aevum “lifetime, eternity, age,” from PIE root *aiw- “vital force, life, long life, eternity” (see eon). Meaning “time something has lived, particular length or stage of life” is from early 14c. Used especially for “old age” since early 14c. Expelled native eld.
v.

“to grow old,” late 14c., from age (n.). Meaning “to make old” is early 15c. Related: Aged; aging.

word-forming element in nouns of act, process, function, condition, from Old French and French -age, from Late Latin -aticum “belonging to, related to,” originally neuter adjectival suffix, from Latin -atus, pp. suffix of verbs of the first conjugation.

age (āj)
n.
The length of time that one has existed; duration of life. v.

To become old.

To manifest traits associated with old age.

acute gastroenteritis
agricultural engineer
agricultural engineering

used to denote the period of a man’s life (Gen. 47:28), the maturity of life (John 9:21), the latter end of life (Job 11:17), a generation of the human race (Job 8:8), and an indefinite period (Eph. 2:7; 3:5, 21; Col. 1:26). Respect to be shown to the aged (Lev. 19:32). It is a blessing to communities when they have old men among them (Isa. 65:20; Zech. 8:4). The aged supposed to excel in understanding (Job 12:20; 15:10; 32:4, 9; 1 Kings 12:6, 8). A full age the reward of piety (Job 5:26; Gen. 15:15).

see:

act one’s age
coon’s age
golden age
in this day and age
of age
ripe old age
under age