age
age — 名詞
1. the count of years for someone since their birth, or for an animal, plant, or ob
年齡；歲數
人或物已存在的年數
the count of years for someone since their birth, or for an animal, plant, or object since it first came into being.
Sofia learned to ride a bicycle at the age of five.
蘇菲亞五歲時就學會騎腳踏車。
at the age of [number]
What is the age of that old oak tree behind the church?
教堂後面那棵老橡樹的年齡有多大？
The museum guard asked the boys their names and ages.
博物館警衛詢問這幾個男孩的姓名和年齡。
Mr. Otto retired from the railway at sixty years of age.
田中先生在六十歲時從鐵路局退休。
Children under the age of twelve must travel with an adult.
未滿十二歲的兒童必須由大人陪同搭乘。
文法句型
at the age of [number]
[number] years of age
用法筆記
Frequently appears with the prepositions 'at', 'of', and 'under'. When stating a specific number, both 'at age 30' and 'at the age of 30' are natural; the second form is slightly more formal.
常見錯誤
2. used in the fixed phrase 'act your age', told to someone whose behaviour seems t
舉止合年齡
行為要符合自己年紀
used in the fixed phrase 'act your age', told to someone whose behaviour seems too childish or silly for how old they are.
Stop throwing peas at your sister, Jamie, and act your age!
傑米，別再對妹妹丟豌豆，做點符合你年齡的事！
imperative form: act your age
Their father told the twins to act their age and stop whining.
他們的爸爸要這對雙胞胎舉止合年齡，別再耍賴。
Aunt Mei rolled her eyes and said, 'Honestly, act your age, Daniel.'
美阿姨翻了白眼說：「丹尼爾，拜託你像個大人吧。」
When the senator giggled at the joke, his wife whispered, 'Act your age.'
聽到那個笑話時參議員噗哧笑出來，他太太低聲說：「成熟一點。」
文法句型
act your age
用法筆記
Almost always used in the imperative 'act your age' or its possessive variants ('act their age'). Rarely appears outside this fixed phrase.
常見錯誤
3. the year of life at which the law allows a person to do something, such as drive
法定年齡
法律允許做某事的歲數
the year of life at which the law allows a person to do something, such as drive, vote, marry, or drink alcohol.
In Taiwan, the legal age for buying alcohol is eighteen.
在台灣，購買酒類的法定年齡是十八歲。
the legal age for + activity
Dilnoza waited two years until he reached the age for driving a motorcycle.
卡洛斯又等了兩年才到合法騎機車的年齡。
The country lowered the voting age from twenty to eighteen last year.
去年該國把投票年齡從二十歲降到十八歲。
Anna married above the age of consent set by her home country.
安娜在超過母國法定同意年齡之後才結婚。
文法句型
age of [activity]
用法筆記
Often appears as a compound: 'voting age', 'drinking age', 'age of consent', 'age of majority'. Distinguish from sense 1: sense 3 names a legal threshold tied to an activity, not a person's current years.
常見錯誤
4. a long stretch of history that is remembered for one major thing, such as a rule
時代；時期
歷史上具特色的長段時期
a long stretch of history that is remembered for one major thing, such as a ruler, an invention, a style, or a way of life.
We are now living in the age of artificial intelligence and instant news.
我們現在生活在人工智慧與即時新聞的時代。
the age of + Noun
The Bronze Age began when people first learned to mix copper with tin.
當人類學會把銅與錫混合，青銅時代就開始了。
the [Adjective] Age (capitalised)
Shakespeare wrote his plays during the Elizabethan age in England.
莎士比亞在英國伊莉莎白時代寫下他的劇作。
Many farmers feared the dawn of the steam age would end their craft.
許多農民擔心蒸汽時代的來臨會讓他們的手藝消失。
文法句型
the [Adjective] Age
the age of [Noun]
用法筆記
Capitalised when naming a famous historical period (the Stone Age, the Middle Ages, the Industrial Age). Lower-case in looser phrases like 'the age of the internet'.
常見錯誤
5. a stretch of time that feels much longer than it really was — used as a friendly
好久；許久
非常長的一段時間（誇飾）
a stretch of time that feels much longer than it really was — used as a friendly exaggeration, almost always in the plural.
Ines, I haven't seen you in ages — how have you been?
莉娜，好久沒見到你了，最近過得怎樣？
in ages (negative context)
The boys waited ages for the school bus in the freezing rain.
那群男孩在冰冷的雨中等了好久才等到校車。
wait ages for + Noun
It took Gita ages to fix the broken tap under the kitchen sink.
馬可仕花了好久才修好廚房水槽下面那個壞掉的水龍頭。
We've been friends for ages, ever since primary school in Tainan.
我們從台南讀小學開始就是好久好久的朋友了。
- moment
a very short time
文法句型
ages / for ages / in ages
用法筆記
Almost always plural: 'ages', 'for ages', 'in ages'. The singular 'an age' in this meaning sounds British and slightly old-fashioned. The phrase exaggerates and is not used in formal writing.
常見錯誤
6. the natural process by which living things become old, together with the visible
老化；年老
變老的過程與外顯痕跡
the natural process by which living things become old, together with the visible signs of that process such as grey hair and weaker muscles.
Good wine, my grandfather said, only improves with age.
我祖父說，好酒只會隨著時間變得更香醇。
with age (process complement)
The marathon runner's knees showed the wear of age and hard training.
那位馬拉松選手的膝蓋顯露出歲月與苦練的痕跡。
Age had softened the once-sharp anger in Mrs. Park's voice.
歲月讓朴太太聲音裡那股銳利的怒氣變得柔和。
The wooden beams in the barn had darkened with age and rain.
穀倉裡的木樑因歲月與雨水而變得黝黑。
- old age
the late stage of life specifically, not the whole process
- youth
the early period of life
文法句型
with age
the effects of age
用法筆記
Uncountable in this sense — never 'an age' or 'ages'. Distinguish from sense 1: sense 1 is a measurable number, sense 6 is the process and its effects. Often pairs with verbs of change ('improve, soften, darken with age').
常見錯誤
age — 動詞
1. to grow visibly older, or to make someone look or feel older than before — often
變老；使顯老
外觀上變老或讓某人變老
to grow visibly older, or to make someone look or feel older than before — often because of stress, illness, or hard times.
Mrs. Chen has aged a great deal since her husband passed away.
陳太太自從丈夫過世後，整個人蒼老了許多。
intransitive: subject + age
Two years of caring for his sick mother had aged Daniel terribly.
兩年照顧生病母親的日子，把丹尼爾折騰得蒼老不少。
transitive: event + age + person
The actor refused to age his character with grey makeup or wrinkles.
那位演員拒絕用灰白妝或皺紋讓他飾演的角色顯老。
Despite the long campaign, the Mayor seemed not to have aged at all.
儘管選戰漫長，市長看起來似乎完全沒變老。
- rejuvenate
to make young again; the opposite of the transitive sense
文法句型
[person/thing] ages
[event] ages [person]
用法筆記
Used both intransitively (people age) and transitively (events age people). The transitive use almost always carries a negative cause — grief, war, illness, stress.
常見錯誤
2. to keep a food or drink — especially cheese, wine, whisky, or meat — resting for
陳化；熟成
讓食物或酒久放以增添風味
to keep a food or drink — especially cheese, wine, whisky, or meat — resting for a long time so that its taste grows richer and more pleasant.
The farmer ages his cheddar in a stone cellar for at least nine months.
那位農夫把切達起司放在石窖裡至少熟成九個月。
transitive: age + food + for + period
This whisky has been aged in oak barrels since the year I was born.
這支威士忌從我出生那年起就一直在橡木桶裡陳化。
passive: be aged in + container
Good beef ages well when the temperature in the locker stays steady.
只要儲藏室溫度穩定，好牛肉就能熟成得很出色。
Gita ages his homemade kimchi in clay pots buried near the back porch.
馬可仕把自製泡菜裝在陶甕裡，埋在後門廊旁邊熟成。
文法句型
age [food/drink] for [period]
[food/drink] ages
用法筆記
Subject or object is almost always a food or drink that grows tastier over time (cheese, wine, whisky, beef, kimchi, miso). Frequently passive: 'aged for [period]', 'aged in [container]'. Distinguish from verb sense 1, which is about people growing old.
常見錯誤
age — 字尾
1. added to the end of a verb to make a noun that names the action of doing it, the
動作或結果
由動詞構成名詞的字尾
added to the end of a verb to make a noun that names the action of doing it, the way it is done, or the amount produced — for example, 'pass' + '-age' becomes 'passage'.
From the verb 'leak', we form the noun 'leakage', the act or amount of leaking.
從動詞 leak 我們造出名詞 leakage，表示漏水的動作或漏出的量。
verb 'leak' + -age → noun 'leakage'
'Marriage' comes from 'marry' plus '-age', meaning the action of being married.
Marriage 由 marry 加 -age 而來，意思是結婚這個動作。
Engineers measure water 'usage' by adding '-age' to the verb 'use'.
工程師在動詞 use 後面加 -age，用 usage 來測量用水量。
After the storm, the news reported the 'breakage' of windows along the coast.
暴風雨過後，新聞報導了沿岸窗戶的 breakage（破損情況）。
文法句型
verb stem + -age → noun
用法筆記
This is a bound morpheme — '-age' never stands alone as a word. Stress usually stays on the original verb's syllable. Most '-age' nouns from this sense are uncountable when they refer to amount (leakage, usage, breakage), countable when they name an act (a marriage, a passage).
常見錯誤
2. added to the end of a noun to make a new noun that names a state, rank, or condi
狀態或身分
由名詞構成狀態名詞的字尾
added to the end of a noun to make a new noun that names a state, rank, or condition connected with the original noun — for example, 'bond' + '-age' becomes 'bondage'.
From 'parent', we form 'parentage', the state of having particular parents.
從 parent 我們造出 parentage，表示出身於某對父母的狀態。
noun 'parent' + -age → noun 'parentage'
'Patron' plus '-age' gives 'patronage', the support a customer or sponsor offers.
Patron 加 -age 形成 patronage，指顧客或贊助者所給予的支持。
In old novels, 'bondage' described the condition of being held as a slave.
在舊小說裡，bondage 描述被當作奴隸的處境。
The duke's 'peerage' marked his rank inside the British nobility.
公爵的 peerage（爵位）標誌著他在英國貴族中的身分。
文法句型
noun stem + -age → noun
用法筆記
Distinguish from suffix sense 1: sense 1 builds nouns from verbs (action), sense 2 builds nouns from nouns (state). Many '-age' words have a slightly literary or formal feel.
常見錯誤
3. added to the end of a word to make a noun that names a building, area, or place
場所
構成處所名詞的字尾
added to the end of a word to make a noun that names a building, area, or place where something happens — for example, 'orphan' + '-age' becomes 'orphanage', a home for orphans.
'Orphanage' joins 'orphan' with '-age' to name a home for parentless children.
Orphanage 把 orphan 與 -age 結合，指收容失依兒童的家。
root 'orphan' + -age → place noun
The word 'parsonage' uses '-age' to name the house where a parson lives.
Parsonage 一字用 -age 來指稱牧師居住的房子。
A 'hermitage' is a quiet place built for a hermit to live alone.
Hermitage 是替隱士建造、讓他獨自居住的清靜處所。
Old maps marked each 'vicarage' near the village church on the hill.
舊地圖會在山上的村莊教堂旁標出每一座 vicarage（牧師宿舍）。
文法句型
root + -age → place noun
用法筆記
The smallest of the three '-age' meanings and largely closed — few new place words are coined this way. Most learners only need to recognise the existing words (orphanage, hermitage, parsonage, vicarage) rather than form new ones.