ag

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ag"

Languages (22)

Translingual • English

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Afrikaans • Albanian • Buhi'non Bikol • Hanunoo • Indo-Portuguese • Irish • Kaingang • Korlai Creole Portuguese • Mwotlap • Nara • Old Irish • Parauk • Pumpokol • Scots • Scottish Gaelic • Swedish • Turkmen • Volapük • Welsh • Wolof

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Page categories

Translingual

Symbol

ag

1. (metrology) Symbol for attogram, an SI unit of mass equal to 10⁻¹⁸ grams.

English

Etymology 1

Clipping of agriculture or agricultural.

Pronunciation

• (without /æ/ raising before /ɡ/) IPA^(key): /ˈæɡ/, [ˈæɡ]

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (/æ/ raising before /ɡ/)
  • (Upper Midwestern US, Northwestern US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈeɪ̯ɡ/, [ˈeɪ̯ɡ]
• Rhymes: -æɡ
• Hyphenation: ag
• Homophone: egg (/ɡ/-tensing)

Noun

ag (plural ags)

2. (chiefly in compounds) Clipping of agriculture.

   He got his degree from the state ag college.

   My class is over on ag campus.

   • 2014, Ferd Hoefner, quoted in Jennifer Steinhauer, “Farm Bill Reflects Shifting American Menu and a Senator’s Persistent Tilling”, NYTimes.com (2014 March 8):

     Even the most ag-centric member of the Agriculture Committee […]

   • 2014 March 8, Jennifer Steinhauer, “Farm Bill Reflects Shifting American Menu and a Senator’s Persistent Tilling”, NYTimes.com:

     […] fruits and vegetables, oddly referred to in ag-speak as specialty crops, […]

Derived terms

• ag-gag
• ag pipe

Related terms

• agri-
• Big Ag

Etymology 2

Clipping of aggregate.

Noun

ag (countable and uncountable, plural ags)

1. (construction) Clipping of aggregate (“small rocks mixed into concrete”).

   The mix should include a good selection of large, medium, and small ag.

   If the mix is too fluid, the ags can sink away from the surface.

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Afrikaans ag, from Dutch ach.

Pronunciation

• (General South African) IPA^(key): /ˈax/, [ˈax]
• Hyphenation: ag

Interjection

ag

1. (South Africa) Expressing annoyance, remorse, surprise, etc.: oh, ah.
   • 1962, Jeremy Taylor, “Ag Pleez Deddy”:

     Ag pleez Deddy won't you take us to the wrestling / We wanna see an ou called Sky High Lee

   • 1979, André Brink, A Dry White Season, Vintage, published 1998, page 88:

     ‘Ag, fuck it,’ he said. ‘Let bygones be bygones, man.’

   • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 491:

     Finally, after placing four books on the desk, he turned to a sheepish Kathy and said, ‘Ag, there's nothing wrong with these desks,’ and walked out.

   • 2000, Pace, page 128:

     "Ag, skattie, those are just bloody drug dealers driving around in stolen cars […] "

Derived terms

• ag man

Etymology 4

Noun

ag (plural ags)

1. Alternative letter-case form of AG (“aggressive (butch)”).
   • 2016 February 26, Laura Horak, Girls Will Be Boys: Cross-Dressed Women, Lesbians, and American Cinema, 1908-1934, Rutgers University Press, →ISBN, page 224:

     new forms of female masculinity are exploding, ranging from butches, dykes, and studs to transmen, FTMs, ags, genderqueers, individuals masculine-of-center, and many more. Transgender men and masculine women can make their own movies […]

   • 2016 June 10, Roberta Uno, Monologues for Actors of Color: Men, Routledge, →ISBN, page 85:

     I don't know what I'd do without them (smiles) Sometimes, I wonder why studs/ag's/butches/transguys be grilling one another in the club. I mean, in my mind, I'm like Why would you hate someone who look like you, act like you, […]

   • 2017 July 31, Eric Friginal, Studies in Corpus-Based Sociolinguistics, Routledge, →ISBN:

     The context around stud enables us to understand its meaning among the W4W advertisers: Seeking lesbian stud, butch, ag, or tomboish women ONLY I'm a single stud (on the soft side) slim body type, tattoos, cute face, and great smile […]

See also

• ag assault

Anagrams

• G&A, GA, Ga, Ga.

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aχ/

Etymology 1

From Dutch acht.

Noun

ag (plural agte)

1. esteem
2. eight

Etymology 2

From Dutch achten.

Verb

ag (present ag, present participle agtende, past participle geag)

1. to regard; to deem

   Ek ag hom as 'n belangrike bate in ons maatskappy.

   I deem him as an important asset in our company.

   Hy word hoog geag.

   He is highly regarded.

2. to heed

Etymology 3

From Dutch ach. Equivalent of German ach and English oh.

Interjection

ag

1. oh, oh no, shoot, damn, oh dear

Etymology 4

Afrikaans numbers ^(edit)

	80
←  7	8	9  → [a], [b]
Cardinal: agt, ag     Ordinal: agtste, agste     Ordinal abbreviation: 8ste

Numeral

ag

1. alternative form of agt

Albanian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Albanian *(h)aug-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg- (compare Ancient Greek αὐγή (augḗ, “daylight, splendor”), Serbo-Croatian jȕg (“south”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɡ/

Noun

ag m (plural agje, definite agu, definite plural agjet)

1. dawn, daybreak, predawn light
2. semi-darkness, fog
3. shine
4. pupils

Declension

Declension of ag

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	ag	agu	agje	agjet
accusative		agun
dative	agu	agut	agjeve	agjeve
ablative			agjesh

Derived terms

• agmi
• agon
• agull
• agullon
• vagëlloj
• vegim
• vegoj

Further reading

• FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎^[2], 1980
• Newmark, Leonard (1999), “ag”, in Oxford Albanian-English Dictionary‎^[3], Oxford: Oxford University Press
• “ag”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe [Dictionary of the Albanian language] (in Albanian), 2006

Buhi'non Bikol

Conjunction

ag

1. and

   Synonym: sagkëd

Hanunoo

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʔaɡ/ [ˈʔɐɡ]
• Rhymes: -aɡ
• Syllabification: ag

Conjunction

ag (Hanunoo spelling ᜠᜤ᜴)

1. and

   Synonym: kag

Further reading

• Conklin, Harold C. (1953), Hanunóo-English Vocabulary (University of California Publications in Linguistics), volume 9, London, England: University of California Press, →OCLC, page 20

Indo-Portuguese

Noun

ag

1. water

Further reading

• Hugo C. Cardoso, The Indo-Portuguese language of Diu (2009), page 345

Irish

Etymology 1

From Middle Irish oc, ac, ic, from Old Irish oc, occ. Compare Scottish Gaelic aig.

Pronunciation

• (particle):
  • IPA^(key): /ə/ before a consonant
  • IPA^(key): /ə.ɡ/ before a, á, o, ó, u, ú
  • IPA^(key): /ə.ɟ/ before e, é, i, í
  • Note: /ɡ/ or /ɟ/ is syllabified with the following vowel, e.g. ag ól (“drinking”) /əˈɡoːlˠ/, ag ithe (“eating”) /əˈɟihə/.
• (preposition): IPA^(key): /eɟ/, /iɟ/

Particle

ag

1. particle used with the verbal noun to mark the progressive aspect:

   ag siúl ― walking

   ag gáire ― laughing

   ag ithe ― eating

   ag ól ― drinking

Preposition

ag (plus dative, triggers no mutation)

1. at
2. of, for (after certain adjectives)

   Bhí sé go deas ag Cáit a dhul leat.

   It was nice of Cáit to go with you.

   Tá sé éasca agat sin a rá.

   It’s easy for you to say that.

3. of (after an indication of quantity)

   Tá go leor acu anseo.

   There are plenty of them here.

   Tá duine againn tinn.

   One of us is ill.

4. of (to indicate possession emphatically, used after a noun qualified by seo (“this”) or sin (“that”))

   an teach seo againne ― this house of ours

   na bróga sin agatsa ― those shoes of yours

5. used with forms of bí (“to be”) to indicate possession in place of a verb meaning ‘have’

   Tá teach ag Seán.

   Seán has a house.

6. used with forms of bí (“to be”) and a past participle to indicate a perfect tense

   Tá an teach péinteáilte ag Seán.

   Seán has painted the house.

7. used with forms of bí (“to be”) to indicate ability to do something

   Tá Spáinnis agam.

   I can speak Spanish.

   Tá caint agam.

   I can talk.

   Tá ceol agam.

   I can make music.

Inflection

Inflection of ag

	Person:		simple	emphatic
singular	first		agam	agamsa
	second		agat	agatsa
	third	m	aige	aigesean
		f	aici	aicise
plural	first		againn	againne
	second		agaibh	agaibhse
	third		acu	acusan

Derived terms

• s'agamsa
• s'agatsa
• s'aigesean
• s'aicise
• s'againne
• s'agaibhse
• s'acusan

Etymology 2

Reduced form of chuig, assimilated in all forms to Etymology 1.

Pronunciation

• (preposition): IPA^(key): /ɛɟ/

Preposition

ag (plus dative, triggers no mutation)

1. (colloquial) alternative form of chuig (“to (a person or place)”)

   Tá mé ag dul ag an dochtúr.

   I’m going to the doctor

Inflection

Inflection of ag

	Person:		simple	emphatic
singular	first		agam	agamsa
	second		agat	agatsa
	third	m	aige	aigesean
		f	aici	aicise
plural	first		againn	againne
	second		agaibh	agaibhse
	third		acu	acusan

Descendants

• → Yola: ug

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “ag”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla [Irish–English Dictionary], Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904), “ag”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla [Irish and English Dictionary], 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 7
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “oc”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• “ag”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2026

Kaingang

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aŋ/, [aɡŋ]

Pronoun

ag

1. they; them (masculine)

Particle

ag

1. masculine plural marker

   Topẽ vỹ ẽprã ke ag to há nĩ.

   God loves the human beings.

References

• Ursula Gojtéj Wiesemann (2011), “ag”, in Dicionário Kaingang-Português Português-Kaingang, 2nd edition (overall work in Portuguese), Curitiba: Editora Esperança, page 13

Korlai Creole Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ékʷeh₂

Proto-Italic *akʷā

Latin aqua

Old Galician-Portuguese agua

Portuguese águader.

Korlai Creole Portuguese ag

Derived from Portuguese água.

Noun

ag

1. water

Further reading

• Clements, J. Clancy (1996), The Genesis of a Language: The Formation and Development of Korlai Portuguese, John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 94

Mwotlap

N-ag.

Etymology

From Proto-Torres-Banks *aɣa, from Proto-North-Central Vanuatu *aka, from Proto-Oceanic *ʀaka (“vine, creeper”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɣ̞/

Noun

ag (determinate n-ag)

1. kudzu, East Asian arrowroot (Pueraria montana var. lobata)

   Nok so tot n-ag gōh.

   I will cut this kudzu vine.

References

• François, Alexandre (2026), “ag”, in Online Mwotlap–English–French cultural dictionary‎^[4] (electronic files; overall work in English and French), Paris: CNRS

  PDF version

Nara

Pronoun

ag

1. I

References

• R. M. Blench, Morphological Evidence for the Coherence of East Sudanic (2020)

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *agos (“cow”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ǵʰós. Compare Old Armenian եզն (ezn), Sanskrit अही (ahī́).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaɣ/

Noun

ag n

1. bullock, cow, ox
2. deer, stag

Inflection

Neuter s-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	agN	agN	aigeL
vocative	agN	agN	aigeL
accusative	agN	agN	aigeL
genitive	aigeL	aige	aigeN
dative	aigL	aigib	aigib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

• ^H = triggers aspiration
• ^L = triggers lenition
• ^N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Irish: agh
• Scottish Gaelic: agh (“heifer”)

Mutation

Mutation of ag

radical	lenition	nasalization
ag (pronounced with /h/ in h-prothesis environments)	ag	n-ag

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “ag”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Parauk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔak/

Noun

ag

1. crossbow (bow).
2. arrow.

Noun

ag

1. carbuncle, ulcer, tumor.

Pumpokol

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Yeniseian *egʌ (“iron”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɡ/

Noun

ag (plural unknown)

1. iron, steel

Further reading

• Портфель Миллера in Russian state archives, foilo 199.
• Werner, Heinrich K. (2005), Die Jenissej-Sprachen des 18. Jahrhunderts (in German), Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz KG, →ISBN, page 179

Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɡ/

Etymology 1

Derived from Old Norse eggja.

Noun

ag (plural ags) (Shetland)

1. The wash of waves on the sea-shore as by a steady wind from the sea.
2. foam near the shore
3. stir, eagerness

References

• “ag, n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.

Etymology 2

Verb

ag (third-person singular simple present ags, present participle agin, simple past and past participle aged)

1. Shetland form of agg (“to drive”)

Etymology 3

Verb

ag (third-person singular simple present ags, present participle agin, simple past and past participle aged)

1. Shetland form of ak (“to feel sick”)

Scottish Gaelic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɡ/

Etymology 1

Contraction of aig

Particle

ag

1. Used before the verbal noun to form the present participle.

   Bha Seumas ag obair. ― James was working.

Usage notes

• This is the form used before a vowel. Before consonants it contracts to a'. The sole exception is ag ràdh (“saying”).

Etymology 2

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

Noun

ag m (genitive singular agaig or aig, uncountable)

1. doubt
2. hesitation

Verb

ag (past dh'ag, future agidh, verbal noun agadh)

1. hesitate
2. doubt

Mutation

Mutation of ag

radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
ag	n-ag	h-ag	t-ag

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish ag, agh (“Cladium”).

Noun

ag c

1. grass of the genus Cladium
   1. especially, of species Cladium mariscus (great fen-sedge, swamp sawgrass).
2. various sedges and rushes outside genus Cladium, e.g. in genera Juncus (rushes) and Schoenus (bog rushes)

   Synonym: tåg (Juncus)

Declension

Declension of ag

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	ag	ags
	definite	agen	agens
plural	indefinite	agar	agars
	definite	agarna	agarnas

Anagrams

• g:a

Turkmen

Other scripts
Latin	ag
Cyrillic	аг
Arabic	آغ

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *āg (“net”). Cognate with Old Turkic 𐰍 (g¹ /⁠ag⁠/), Bashkir ау (aw, “net”).

Noun

ag (definite accusative agy, plural aglar)

1. net, web

Volapük

Interjection

ag!

1. oh! cry of pain or surprise
2. ah! cry of surprise

Welsh

Alternative forms

• â

Etymology

From Old Welsh (h)ac ‘and’, from Proto-Brythonic *atkʷe, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ét-kʷe (compare Breton hag and Cornish hag); identical to Latin atque. Doublet of Welsh ac.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɡ/
• Homophone: ac (colloquial)

Preposition

ag

1. with (used before vowels)

Usage notes

Unlike â, ag does not cause an aspirate mutation in the following word.

Wolof

Preposition

ag

1. with