agate

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word agate. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word agate, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say agate in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word agate you have here. The definition of the word agate will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofagate, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: Agate

English

Agate

Etymology 1

From Middle French agathe, from Latin achatēs, from Ancient Greek ἀχάτης (akhátēs, agate).

Pronunciation

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Noun

agate (countable and uncountable, plural agates)

  1. (countable, uncountable, mineralogy) A semitransparent, uncrystallized silicate mineral and semiprecious stone, presenting various tints in the same specimen, with colors delicately arranged and often curved in parallel alternating dark and light stripes or bands, or blended in clouds; various authorities call it a variety of chalcedony, a variety of quartz, or a combination of the two.
    • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter I, in Romance and Reality. , volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, , →OCLC, page 9:
      The ends of the veil, drawn over her head, were embroidered with silver; she had long gold ear-rings; to a rich and large gold chain was suspended a cross set with precious stones; and over the arm of her chair hung a rosary of agate beads.
    • 1947, Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano, New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, page 86:
      Yes: living among the cohabations of Faust himself, among the litharge and agate and hyacinth and pearls.
  2. (uncountable, US printing, dated) The size of type between pearl and nonpareil, standardized as 5+12-point.
  3. (countable, typography) One fourteenth of an inch.
  4. (countable, obsolete) A diminutive person; so called in allusion to the small figures cut in agate for rings and seals.
  5. (countable) A tool used by gold-wire drawers, bookbinders, etc.;—so called from the agate fixed in it for burnishing.
  6. (countable) A marble made from agate.
  7. (slang, usually in the plural) A testicle.
Synonyms
Hypernyms
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations

Etymology 2

a- (on) +‎ gate (way)

Pronunciation

Adverb

agate (not comparable)

  1. (obsolete) On the way; agoing.

Basque

Etymology

From Proto-Basque *anate, from Latin anatem (duck).

Pronunciation

  • (Biscayan) IPA(key): /aɡate/,

Noun

agate inan

  1. (Biscayan) Alternative form of ahate.

Esperanto

Adverb

agate

  1. present adverbial passive participle of agi

French

Pronunciation

Noun

agate f (plural agates)

  1. agate

Further reading

Ido

Verb

agate

  1. adverbial present passive participle of agar

Italian

Noun

agate f

  1. plural of agata

Anagrams

Mezquital Otomi

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish ágata, from Old French agathe, from Latin achates, from Ancient Greek ἀχάτης (akhátēs).

Pronunciation

Noun

ǎgáte

  1. agate

References

  • Hernández Cruz, Luis, Victoria Torquemada, Moisés (2010) Diccionario del hñähñu (otomí) del Valle del Mezquital, estado de Hidalgo (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 45)‎ (in Spanish), second edition, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 3

Scots

Alternative forms

Etymology

a- (on) +‎ gate

Adverb

agate (not comparable)

  1. On the road, afoot, going about
  2. away

References