Wiktionary

ago

See also: Ago, Ago., AGO, agó, aĝo, ägo, and -ago

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English ago, agon (“passed”), past participle of agon (“to depart, escape, pass”), from Old English āgān (“to go away, pass away, go forth, come to pass”), from Proto-Germanic *uz- (“out”), *gāną (“to go”), equivalent to a- +‎ gone, and by surface analysis, a- +‎ go. Cognate with German ergehen (“to come to pass, fare, go forth”). Compare also Old Saxon āgangan (“to go or pass by”), Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐌲𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌰𐌽 (usgaggan, “to go forth”).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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ago (comparative more ago, superlative most ago)

  1. (archaic or dialectal) Gone; gone by; gone away; passed; passed away.
    in days ago / in days agone
  2. (archaic or dialectal) Nearly gone; dead. (used in Devonshire at the turn of the 19th century)
    Woe the day—she is agone!

Usage notes

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  • Usually follows the noun.

Adverb

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ago (not comparable)

  1. Before the present time
    When they first met in 2000, my dad told my mom how he had gotten the money. The story begins 20 years ago.
    It was two weeks ago that I saw her last.

Preposition

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ago

  1. (used postpositively) Before now.
    I got married ten years ago.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Albanian

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Etymology

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From Ottoman Turkish آغا (ağa) (compare Turkish ağa) or Greek άγιος (ágios).

Noun

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ago m

  1. (Gheg, archaic, poetic) god

Esperanto

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin agō.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈaɡo/
  • Hyphenation: a‧go
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

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ago (accusative singular agon, plural agoj, accusative plural agojn)

  1. act, action

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Ido

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin agō.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ago (plural agi)

  1. act, action, deed

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Istriot

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Etymology

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From Latin acus.

Noun

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ago m

  1. needle

Italian

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Etymology

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From earlier *aco, from Latin acus (“needle”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”). Compare Romanian ac.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ago m (plural aghi)

  1. needle
    • 1947, Primo Levi, “Storia di dieci giorni”, in Se questo è un uomo [If This Is a Man], Torino: Einaudi, published 1987, →ISBN, page 190:
      Grazie alla mia ormai lunga esperienza delle cose del campo; ero riuscito a portare con me le mie cose personali: una cintura di fili elettrici intrecciati; il cucchiaio-coltello; un ago con tre gugliate; cinque bottoni; e infine, diciotto pietrine per acciarino che avevo rubato in Laboratoria.
      Thanks to my by now long experience with camp-related matters; I was able to bring with me my personal items: a belt made of braided electrical wires; the spoon-knife; a needle with three threads; five buttons; and lastly, eighteen flints for the lighter that I robbed from the Laboratory.

Derived terms

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Anagrams

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Japanese

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Romanization

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ago

  1. Rōmaji transcription of あご

Karipúna Creole French

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FWOTD – 26 July 2013

Pronunciation

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Interjection

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ago?

  1. may I come in?

Further reading

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  • Alfred W. Tobler (1987) Dicionário Crioulo Karipúna/Português Português/Crioulo Karípúna (in Karipúna Creole French), Summer Institute of Linguistics, page 43

Latin

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Etymology

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    From Proto-Italic *agō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti, from the root *h₂eǵ- (“to drive”)

    Cognate with Old Irish aigid, Ancient Greek ἄγω (ágō, “I lead”), Old Norse aka (“move, drive”), Avestan 𐬀𐬰𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (azaiti), Sanskrit अजति (ájati, “to drive, propel, cast”).

    Pronunciation

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    Verb

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    agō (present infinitive agere, perfect active ēgī, supine āctum); third conjugation

    1. to act, to behave
      • Late 4th century, Jerome [et al.], transl., edited by Roger Gryson, Biblia Sacra: Iuxta Vulgatam Versionem (Vulgate), 5th edition, Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, published 2007, →ISBN, II Paralipomenon [2 Chronicles] 32:7:
        viriliter agite et confortamini nolite timere nec paveatis regem Assyriorum […]
        "Act strongly and be courageous. Do not fear nor tremble before the king of Assyria"
      • 64 CE, Seneca the Younger, Epistulae morales ad Lucilium 94.6.1:
        ...doces illum quid sano faciendum sit, non efficis sanum. Pauperi ut agat divitem monstras: hoc quomodo manente paupertate fieri potest?
        ...you teach a man what a healthy man should do, but you don't make him healthy. You show the poor how to behave as a rich man: but if they remain poor, how can they do so?
    2. to do
      • c. 190 BCE – 185 BCE, Plautus, Amphitryon 2.1.1:
        [Amphitryon to Sosia:] age ī tū secundum
        Come, do follow after me!
        (literally, “Do thou walk after/following (me)!”)
      • 63 BCE, Cicero, Catiline Orations 1.8:
        Nihil agis, nihil moliris, nihil cogitas quod non ego non modo audiam sed etiam videam planeque sentiam.
        You do nothing, you plan nothing, you think of nothing which I not only do not hear, but which I do not see and know every particular of.
      • [1865, Ausonii Popmae frisii de differentiis verborum cum additamentis ab Hekelii, Richteri, Messerschmidii et Vallaurii
        Agere, Facere et Gerere hoc differunt, quod agere et corporis, et vocis, et mentis agitatum comprehendit. Facere tantum refertur ad opera, quae corpore efficimus; aliquando et pro consentire ponitur. His enim loquendi modis utebantur recte antiqui: mecum seu tecum faciam, hoc est, mecum seu tecum consentiam. Gerere est muneris et oneris...]
    3. to make (something that does not continue to exist after the maker stops)
    4. to negotiate, discuss, confer, talk with one about a person or thing
    5. to effect, accomplish, achieve
    6. to treat, to deal with
    7. to act, play, perform (e.g., a role in a play)
    8. to perform, transact, conduct, manage (e.g. business, affairs)
    9. to administer, direct, guide, govern
      • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.574:
        “Trōs Tyriusque mihī nūllō discrīmine agētur.”
        “Trojan and Tyrian shall be governed [alike], with no difference to me.” – Queen Dido
    10. to drive (sense of providing an impetus for motion), impel, move, push, put in motion
    11. to conduct, drive (sense of providing governance to motion)
      • 1877, Sophocles (in translation), Electra, in Aeschyli et Sophoclis: Tragoediae et Fragmenta (Paris: Institutiae Franciae Typographo)
        Intereā Orestēs postrēmus omnium ultimō locō equōs agēbat, in fīne certam spem victōriae ponēns.
        "Meanwhile, Orestes had been driving in last place and holding his horses back, putting his trust in the finish."
    12. to discuss, debate, deliberate (used in civil, political and legal contexts)
    13. (law) to plead
    14. to think upon; to be occupied with
      • 8 CE, Ovid, The Heroines XII.208–212:
        ingentis parturit ira minas. / Quo feret ira, sequar! facti fortasse pigebit — / Et piget infido consuluisse viro. / Viderit ista deus, qui nunc mea pectora versat! / Nescio quid certe mens mea maius agit!
        Tremndous anger abounds with threat. / I’ll follow where anger carries me. Perhaps I’ll regret my deeds: / I regret having given thought to the interests of an unfaithful husband. / Let the god see to that, which churns within my heart. / Assuredly, I don't know what occupies my mind more greatly!
    15. to aim at, to get at (generally in the subjunctive mood and preceded by ut, and so meaning: "that to might achieve...")
    16. to stir up, excite, cause, induce
    17. to disturb, agitate, afflict, upset, vex
      • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.465–466:
        [...] Agit ipse furentem / in somnīs ferus Aenēās [...].
        [...] In her nightmares, angry Aeneas himself afflicts [Dido] in her madness, [...].
        (Ambiguity: Other interpretations include drives, chases, or harasses.)
    18. to lead, drive (e.g., livestock)
    19. to chase, pursue
    20. to drive at, pursue (a course of action)
    21. to rob, steal, plunder, carry off
    22. (of time) to pass, spend, lead
    23. (of offerings) to slay, kill (as a sacrifice)
    24. (of plants) to put forth, sprout, extend
    25. (law) to hold (a court)
    26. (passive voice) to go on, to take place, to be at issue

    Usage notes

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    Ago renders a sense of doing or making which is continuative or behavioral. For a sense of a specific instance or occasion of doing or making, see facio. For a sense of doing or making which is yet more continuative, see agito and gero.

    According to Döderlein, another difference between ago and facio when they mean "make" is that ago typically has to do with making something that does not continue after the "actor" stops doing the action; whereas with facio, the object continues to exist after the maker has made the thing. In other words, ago is temporal, whereas facio is spatial.

    Conjugation

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       Conjugation of agō (third conjugation)
    indicative singular plural
    first second third first second third
    active present agō agis agit agimus agitis agunt
    imperfect agēbam agēbās agēbat agēbāmus agēbātis agēbant
    future agam agēs aget agēmus agētis agent
    perfect ēgī ēgistī ēgit ēgimus ēgistis ēgērunt,
    ēgēre
    pluperfect ēgeram ēgerās ēgerat ēgerāmus ēgerātis ēgerant
    future perfect ēgerō ēgeris ēgerit ēgerimus ēgeritis ēgerint
    passive present agor ageris,
    agere     		agitur agimur agiminī aguntur
    imperfect agēbar agēbāris,
    agēbāre     		agēbātur agēbāmur agēbāminī agēbantur
    future agar agēris,
    agēre     		agētur agēmur agēminī agentur
    perfect āctus + present active indicative of sum
    pluperfect āctus + imperfect active indicative of sum
    future perfect āctus + future active indicative of sum
    subjunctive singular plural
    first second third first second third
    active present agam agās agat agāmus agātis agant
    imperfect agerem agerēs ageret agerēmus agerētis agerent
    perfect ēgerim ēgerīs ēgerit ēgerīmus ēgerītis ēgerint
    pluperfect ēgissem ēgissēs ēgisset ēgissēmus ēgissētis ēgissent
    passive present agar agāris,
    agāre     		agātur agāmur agāminī agantur
    imperfect agerer agerēris,
    agerēre     		agerētur agerēmur agerēminī agerentur
    perfect āctus + present active subjunctive of sum
    pluperfect āctus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
    imperative singular plural
    first second third first second third
    active present — age — — agite —
    future — agitō agitō — agitōte aguntō
    passive present — agere — — agiminī —
    future — agitor agitor — — aguntor
    non-finite forms active passive
    present perfect future present perfect future
    infinitives agere ēgisse āctūrum esse agī āctum esse āctum īrī
    participles agēns — āctūrus — āctus agendus,
    agundus
    verbal nouns gerund supine
    genitive dative accusative ablative accusative ablative
    agendī agendō agendum agendō āctum āctū

    Synonyms

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    Antonyms

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    Derived terms

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    Descendants

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    • → Danish: agere
    • → Dutch: ageren
    • → English: act
    • → French: agir (see there for further descendants)
    • → German: agieren
    • → Ido: agar
    • → Occitan: agir
    • → Swedish: agera

    Further reading

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    • Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “agĕre”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 24: Refonte A–Aorte, page 257
    • “ago”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
    • “ago”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
    • ago in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
    • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
      • to take root: radices agere (De Off. 2. 12. 73)
      • to bud, blossom: gemmas agere
      • to live (all) one's life (honourably, in the country, as a man of learning): vitam, aetatem (omnem aetatem, omne aetatis tempus) agere (honeste, ruri, in litteris), degere, traducere
      • I am in my thirteenth year: tertium decimum annum ago
      • to be at one's last gasp: animam agere
      • so-and-so is in a very satisfactory position; prospers: agitur praeclare, bene cum aliquo
      • to be ruined, undone: praecipitem agi, ire
      • a man's life is at stake, is in very great danger: salus, caput, vita alicuius agitur, periclitatur, in discrimine est or versatur
      • to thank a person (in words): gratias alicui agere pro aliqua re
      • to give thanks to heaven: grates agere (dis immortalibus)
      • (ambiguous) to have all one's trouble for nothing: rem actam or simply actum agere (proverb.)
      • to be occupied with business, busy: negotia agere, gerere
      • to pass one's life in luxury and idleness: per luxum et ignaviam aetatem agere
      • to be inattentive: alias res or aliud agere
      • to devote one's life to science, study: aetatem in litteris ducere, agere
      • the point at issue: id, de quo agitur or id quod cadit in controversiam
      • to recite a poem, line with appropriate action: carmen, versum agere
      • to act a play (said of the actors): fabulam agere
      • to play the part of some one: partes agere alicuius
      • to act the rôle of a slave, pander: agere servum, lenonem
      • to represent a thing dramatically: sic exponere aliquid, quasi agatur res (non quasi narretur)
      • to gesticulate: gestum (always in the sing.) agere
      • the question now is..: nunc id quaeritur, agitur
      • to be now jesting, now in earnest: ioca et seria agere
      • the book treats of friendship: hic liber est de amicitia (not agit) or hoc libro agitur de am.
      • to act reasonably, judiciously: prudenter, considerate, consilio agere (opp. temere, nullo consilio, nulla ratione)
      • to be moderate in all things, commit no excess: omnia modice agere
      • to have no principles: omnia temere agere, nullo iudicio uti
      • to thank, glorify the immortal gods: grates, laudes agere dis immortalibus
      • to keep, celebrate a festival: diem festum agere (of an individual)
      • to take the auspices, observe the flight of birds: augurium agere, auspicari (N. D. 2. 4. 11)
      • the house walls are beginning to crack: domus rimas agit
      • to live a lonely life: vitam solitariam agere
      • how are you: quid agis?
      • what is going on? how are you getting on: quid agitur? quid fit?
      • to lay the foundations: fundamenta iacere, agere
      • to drive to pasture: pastum agere
      • to submit a formal proposition to the people: agere cum populo (Leg. 3. 4. 10)
      • the aristocracy (as a party in politics): boni cives, optimi, optimates, also simply boni (opp. improbi); illi, qui optimatium causam agunt
      • to be a leading spirit of the popular cause: populi causam agere
      • to play the demagogue: populariter agere
      • to hold the census: censum habere, agere (Liv. 3. 22)
      • to perform the censors' duties: censuram agere, gerere
      • to go to law with a person: (ex) iure, lege agere cum aliquo
      • to proceed against some one with the utmost rigour of the law; to strain the law in one's favour: summo iure agere cum aliquo (cf. summum ius, summa iniuria)
      • to convene the assizes (used of a provincial governor): conventus agere (B. G. 1. 54)
      • to conduct a person's case (said of an agent, solicitor): causam alicuius agere (apud iudicem)
      • a person's life is in jeopardy: caput alicuius agitur (vid. sect. V. 8)
      • to crucify: in crucem agere, tollere aliquem
      • to set the army in motion: agmen agere
      • to mount guard in the camp: vigilias agere in castris (Verr. 4. 43)
      • to keep watch on the rampart: custodias agere in vallo
      • to be on duty before the gates: stationes agere pro portis
      • to carry off booty: ferre atque agere praedam
      • to advance pent-houses, mantlets: vineas agere (B. G. 3. 21)
      • to make mines, subterraneous passages: cuniculos agere (B. G. 3. 21)
      • to drive the enemy before one: prae se agere hostem
      • to triumph over some one: triumphum agere de or ex aliquo or c. Gen. (victoriae, pugnae)
      • to treat with some one about peace: agere cum aliquo de pace
      • to row: navem remis agere or propellere
      • (ambiguous) I'm undone! it's all up with me: perii! actum est de me! (Ter. Ad. 3. 2. 26)
      • (ambiguous) to have all one's trouble for nothing: rem actam or simply actum agere (proverb.)
      • (ambiguous) it's all over with me; I'm a lost man: actum est de me

    Lolopo

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    Etymology

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    From Proto-Loloish *go¹ (Bradley). Cognate with Burmese အစ်ကို (ackui).

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    ago 

    1. (Yao'an) elder brother

    Maranao

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    Etymology

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    Akin to Cebuano ug.

    Conjunction

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    ago

    1. and

    Samoan

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    Etymology

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    From Proto-Polynesian *aŋo, from Proto-Oceanic *yaŋo. Cognate with Tongan ango.

    Noun

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    ago

    1. turmeric

    Usage notes

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    Once cooked, it is called lega.

    References

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    • Tyron, Darell (1994) “Oceanic plant names”, in A.K. Pawley and M.D. Ross, editors, Austronesian Terminologies: Continuity and Change, Caberra, Australia: Australian National University, →ISBN, page 493

    Ternate

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    Etymology

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    (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    ago

    1. a kind of root crop

    Further reading

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    • Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

    Võro

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    Etymology

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    Of disputed origin; cognate to Estonian agu.

    Noun

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    ago (genitive ao, partitive ako)

    1. twilight

    Inflection

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    Inflection of ago
    singular plural
    nominative ago aoq
    accusative ao aoq
    genitive ao akõ
    aka
    partitive ako akõ
    aka
    illative akko akkõ
    akkõhe
    akka
    akkahe
    inessive aon
    aohn     		akõn
    akan
    akõhn
    akahn
    elative aost akõst
    akast
    allative aolõ akõlõ
    akalõ
    adessive aol akõl
    akal
    ablative aolt akõlt
    akalt
    translative aos akõs
    akas
    terminative aoniq akõniq
    akaniq
    abessive aoldaq akõldaq
    akaldaq
    comitative aogaq akõgaq
    akagaq

    Derived terms

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    Yoruba

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    Yoruba phrasebook
     This entry is part of the phrasebook project, which presents criteria for inclusion based on utility, simplicity and commonness.

    Etymology 1

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    Pronunciation

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    Interjection

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    àgò!

    1. excuse me, hello, an interjection used to get the attention of the addressee
      àgò onílé yìí o! ― Hello to the owners of this house!
    Derived terms
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    • kágò (“to greet 'hello'”)
    • yàgò (“move out of the way, excuse me”)
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    • dákun (“excuse me”)
    • yẹra (“to move out the way for someone”)

    Etymology 2

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    Compare with Olukumi agó, Itsekiri ẹgó, Igala àgó, Ayere úgó (“navel”). Proposed to be derived from Proto-Yoruba *à-gó, from Proto-Edekiri *à-gó, ultimately from Proto-Yoruboid *à-gó. It is unclear if this word was used in Standard Yoruba as there are few texts that cite its existence in Standard Yoruba. It is possible that the word had become long obsolete in Standard Yoruba.

    Alternative forms

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    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    àgó or agó

    1. (anatomy, Ondo, Ikalẹ, Eastern Akoko, Ọwọ) hip, waist
      Synonyms: bèbèrè ùdí, ìbàdí, ẹ̀gbẹ́, bèbè, ìgbaròkó
    Coordinate terms
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