ago.
Before now, before the present time
Meaning & usage
Before now, before the present time
I got married ten years ago.
When they first met in 2000, my dad told my mom how he had gotten the money. The story begins 20 years ago.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ud-s-? Proto-Indo-European *h₂u-s-? Proto-Germanic *uz- Proto-West Germanic *uʀ- Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁-der. Proto-Germanic *gāną Proto-West Germanic *gān Proto-West Germanic *uʀgān Old English āgān Middle English agon English ago From Middle English ago, agon (“passed”), past participle of agon (“to depart, escape, pass”), from Old English āgān (“to go away, pass away, go forth, come to pass”), from Proto-Germanic *uz- (“out”), *gāną (“to go”), equivalent to a- + gone, and by surface analysis, a- + go. Cognate with German ergehen (“to come to pass, fare, go forth”). Compare also Old Saxon āgangan (“to go or pass by”), Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐌲𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌰𐌽 (usgaggan, “to go forth”).
Gone; gone by; gone away; passed; passed away.
Nearly gone; dead. (used in Devonshire at the turn of the 19th century)
Woe the day—she is agone!
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ud-s-? Proto-Indo-European *h₂u-s-? Proto-Germanic *uz- Proto-West Germanic *uʀ- Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁-der. Proto-Germanic *gāną Proto-West Germanic *gān Proto-West Germanic *uʀgān Old English āgān Middle English agon English ago From Middle English ago, agon (“passed”), past participle of agon (“to depart, escape, pass”), from Old English āgān (“to go away, pass away, go forth, come to pass”), from Proto-Germanic *uz- (“out”), *gāną (“to go”), equivalent to a- + gone, and by surface analysis, a- + go. Cognate with German ergehen (“to come to pass, fare, go forth”). Compare also Old Saxon āgangan (“to go or pass by”), Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐌲𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌰𐌽 (usgaggan, “to go forth”).
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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.