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agate.

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.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈæɡ.ɪt//ˈæɡ.ət/
  1. 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.

    countable · uncountable
  2. The size of type between pearl and nonpareil, standardized as 5+¹⁄₂-point.

    US · dated · uncountable
  3. One fourteenth of an inch.

    countable
  4. A diminutive person; so called in allusion to the small figures cut in agate for rings and seals.

    countable · obsolete
  5. A tool used by gold-wire drawers, bookbinders, etc.;—so called from the agate fixed in it for burnishing.

    countable
  6. A marble made from agate.

    countable
  7. A testicle.

    countable · plural-normally · slang · uncountable
Where this word comes from

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

adv/əˈɡeɪt/US
  1. On the way; agoing.

    not-comparable · obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Late Middle English agate, a gate. Equivalent to a- (“on”) + gate (“way, path”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.