age

1 an extent of time associated with a particular person or thing the Bronze Age marks the beginning of the use of metal by ancient peoples Synonyms day, epoch, era, period, time Related Words cycle, generation, year; bit, space, span, spell, stretch, while; date, vintage

2 a long or seemingly long period of time it took ages for the clerk to ring up three items Synonyms aeon (or eon), blue moon, coon's age, cycle, donkey's years [chiefly British], eternity, forever, long, months, moon Related Words infinity; lifetime Near Antonyms flash, instant, jiffy, minute, moment, second, shake, split second, trice, twinkle, twinkling, wink; microsecond, nanosecond

3 a later period of one's life stoically endures all of the aches and pains that come with age Synonyms afterlife, afternoon, autumn, evening Related Words sunset, twilight, winter; anecdotage, dotage, senility; elderliness, golden years, oldness, seniority; adulthood, majority, maturity, middle, middle age, midlife, ripeness Near Antonyms adolescence, youth Antonyms springtime

4 the state of being an old person at 88, she gets frustrated by the feebleness that is inevitable with age Synonyms ancientness, agedness, elderliness, maturityRelated Words senectitude; venerableness; anecdotage, anility, caducity, dotage, second childhood, senescence, senility; feebleness, infirmityNear Antonyms freshness, prime, youthfulness; adolescence, immaturity, juvenility, minority, nonageAntonyms youngness, youth

5 the state of being something old the copper monument has acquired the patina of age Synonyms ancientness, agedness, antiquity, hoarinessRelated Words antiquation, datedness, obsolescence, obsoleteness, old-fashionedness; fustiness; agelessnessNear Antonyms currency, currentness, freshness, modernity, modernness, novelty, recentnessAntonyms newness

to become mature as your cat ages and becomes less active, you should change her diet Synonyms mature, develop, grow, grow up, progress, ripenRelated Words mellow, soften; bloom, blossom, burgeon (also bourgeon), flourish, flower; open, unfold; advance, evolve; get along, get on, gray (also grey)Near Antonyms decay, decline, degenerate, deteriorate, sink, worsen; droop, dry, fade, flag, sag, shrivel, wane, waste (away), weaken, wilt, wither; regress, retrogress, revert; backslide, lapse, return