agate

[ ag-it ]

noun

1. a variegated chalcedony showing curved, colored bands or other markings.
2. a playing marble made of this substance, or of glass in imitation of it.
3. Printing. a 5½-point type of a size between pearl and nonpareil. Compare ruby ( def 6 ).

agate

¹

/ ˈæɡɪt /

noun

1. an impure microcrystalline form of quartz consisting of a variegated, usually banded chalcedony, used as a gemstone and in making pestles and mortars, burnishers, and polishers. Formula: SiO 2
2. a playing marble of this quartz or resembling it
3. Also calledruby printing (formerly) a size of printer's type approximately equal to 5 1 2 point

Agate

²

/ ˈæɡeɪt /

noun

1. AgateJames (Evershed)18771947MBritishTHEATRE: theatre criticWRITING: diarist James ( Evershed ). 1877–1947, British theatre critic; drama critic for The Sunday Times (1923–47) and author of a nine-volume diary Ego (1935–49)

agate

³

/ əˈɡeɪt /

adverb

1. dialect.
   on the way

agate

/ ăg′ĭt /

1. A type of very fine-grained quartz found in various colors that are arranged in bands or in cloudy patterns. The bands form when water rich with silica enters empty spaces in rock, after which the silica comes out of solution and forms crystals, gradually filling the spaces from the outside inward. The different colors are the result of various impurities in the water.

Other Words From

• agate·like aga·toid adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of agate¹

1150–1200; Middle English ac ( c ) ate, achate, agaten (compare Dutch agaat, Old Saxon agāt, Old High German agat ), apparently < Old French agathe or Italian agata (initial stress) ≪ Medieval Latin achātēs < Greek achā́tēs

Word History and Origins

Origin of agate¹

C16: via French from Latin achātēs, from Greek akhatēs

Origin of agate²

C16: a-² + gate³

Example Sentences

A.J. had seen his father become obsessive before — about hunting for agate rocks or buying antique furniture — but now he was studying voter turnout data and the intricacies of the 12th Amendment.

From New York Times

When I first worked with her at the AP bureau in her hometown of Philadelphia in 1981, our office handled the agate — the goal scorers, penalties, shots — for the Hershey Bears minor league hockey team.

From Seattle Times

Every time TRT took the agate, she had a Bears media guide in her lap.

From Seattle Times

Such attention to detail is how I explain that I, in what’s been an extended depressed state, suddenly stood transfixed by the agate swirls found in the travertine walls of the Natural History Museum last weekend, or got lost the other week by the moon-like shadows on downtown Los Angeles sidewalks inspired by an eclipse.

From Los Angeles Times

Virginia Bloedel had known Collins and Bertie, and the Bloedels purchased the property and renamed it Agate Point Farm.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• font