Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Having lived for a long time; old: Refers to a person, animal, or sometimes a thing that is advanced in years.
   • Having reached a desired or final condition through maturing: Used to describe substances like wine, cheese, or tobacco that have been kept under specific conditions to develop flavor or character.
   • Having attained a specific age: Used to indicate the exact number of years old someone or something is.

2. Noun:

   • (The aged): Old people collectively.

Usage

• As an adjective (pronounced as two syllables: /ˈeɪ.dʒɪd/):
  • Used before a noun to describe an elderly person or thing: an aged man, an aged tree.
  • Used after a linking verb like 'be' to describe the state of being old: He is now quite aged.
• As an adjective (pronounced as one syllable: /eɪdʒd/):
  • Used before a noun, often in combination with a number, to mean 'of the age of': a woman aged forty.
  • Used to describe matured products: aged cheddar, aged beef.
• As a noun (pronounced as two syllables: /ˈeɪ.dʒɪd/):
  • Used with the definite article 'the' to refer to elderly people as a group: caring for the aged.

Examples

• Adjective (elderly):
  • They built a ramp to help the aged professor enter the building.
  • The aged oak tree had stood in the village square for centuries.
• Adjective (of a specific age):
  • The program is for children aged six to twelve.
  • Police are looking for a man aged about thirty.
• Adjective (matured):
  • The flavor of aged whiskey is much smoother.
  • She prefers aged Gouda cheese for its crystalline texture.
• Noun:
  • The new policy aims to improve healthcare for the aged.

Advanced Usage

• "Well-aged": Emphasizes that something has been matured for a sufficient and beneficial period.
  • The well-aged port was served after dinner.
• "The young and the aged": A phrase contrasting two demographic groups.
  • The disease can affect both the young and the aged.

Variants and Related Words

• Age (n/v): The length of time someone or something has existed / To grow old.
  • What is your age? / Fine wine ages in oak barrels.
• Aging (adj): The process of becoming older.
  • The aging population is a global trend.
• Age-old (adj): Very old; having existed for a long time. (This is a compound word listed separately as per instruction).
  • It's an age-old tradition.

Synonyms

• Elderly: (adj) Polite and common word for old people.
• Senior: (adj/n) Older, often used in formal contexts like "senior citizen."
• Mature: (adj) Fully developed, especially used for things like cheese or wine.

Antonyms

• Young: Having lived or existed for only a short time.
• New: Not existing before; recently made.
• Unaged / Fresh: Not having undergone a maturing process (e.g., ).

Related Phrases

• Advanced in years: A formal way to say 'old' or 'aged.'
  • He was a gentleman advanced in years.
• Of a certain age: A polite or vague way to say someone is no longer young.
  • The club is popular with women of a certain age.

Adjective

1. (used of tobacco) aging as a preservative process (`aged' is pronounced as one syllable)
2. of wines, fruit, cheeses; having reached a desired or final condition; (`aged' pronounced as one syllable)
   • mature well-aged cheeses
3. having attained a specific age; (`aged' is pronounced as one syllable)
   • aged ten
   • ten years of age
4. at an advanced stage of erosion (pronounced as one syllable)
   • aged rocks
5. advanced in years; (`aged' is pronounced as two syllables)
   • aged members of the society
   • elderly residents could remember the construction of the first skyscraper
   • senior citizen

Noun

1. people who are old collectively
   • special arrangements were available for the aged