agent

Etymology

From Latin agēns, present active participle of agere (“to drive, lead, conduct, manage, perform, do”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeɪ.dʒənt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

agent (plural agents)

1. One who exerts power, or has the power to act
   • 1862, Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses Volume 9 Call for Teams to Go to the Frontiers, etc.

     Seeing we are so wonderfully endowed with priceless gifts by our Heavenly Father, will he not require usury at our hands? He will. But he has made us agents to ourselves, which makes us responsible for the way in which we use the talents he has given us, for the manner we expend the gold and silver, the wheat and fine flour, the cattle upon a thousand hills, and the wine and oil, for they all belong to Him

2. One who acts for, or in the place of, another (the principal), by authority from him/her; someone entrusted to do the business of another
   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick Chapter 36

     I see in him [Moby Dick] outrageous strength, with an inscrutable malice sinewing it. That inscrutable thing is chiefly what I hate; and be the white whale agent, or be the white whale principal, I will wreak that hate upon him.

3. A person who looks for work for another person
   • 4 June 2016, Press Association, Ronald Koeman’s agent says Dutchman has agreed terms with Everton

     Ronald Koeman has agreed a deal with Everton to become their new manager, his agent has reportedly told Dutch media. The agent Rob Jansen said, according to the popular Voetbal International website, that it was now down to Southampton and Everton to agree a compensation package for the Dutchman, who has a year remaining on his contract at St Mary’s.

4. Someone who works for an intelligence agency
5. An active power or cause or substance; something which has the power to produce an effect
   • 1807, James Edward Smith, An introduction to physiological and systematical botany/Chapter 11

     So far seems to be the work of chemistry alone; at least we have no right to conclude that any other agent interferes; since hay, when it happens to imbibe moisture, exhibits nearly the same processes."

6. (computing) In the client-server model, the part of the system that performs information preparation and exchange on behalf of a client or server. Especially in the phrase “intelligent agent” it implies some kind of autonomous process which can communicate with other agents to perform some collective task on behalf of one or more humans.
7. (grammar) The participant of a situation that carries out the action in this situation, e.g. "the boy" in the sentences "The boy kicked the ball" and "The ball was kicked by the boy".
   • 2009, Tarsee Li, The Verbal System of the Aramaic of Daniel: An Explanation in the Context of Grammaticalization, p. 58:

     A verb is typically described as active when its subject is the agent or actor. By contrast, a verb is said to be passive when the subject does not perform the action, but is the patient, target, or undergoer of the action.

See also

• proxy

Further reading

• agent in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• agent in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Anagrams

• Tegan, ganté

Etymology

From Latin agēns.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /əˈʒent/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /əˈʒen/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /aˈd͡ʒent/

Noun

agent m (plural agents)

1. agent

Etymology

Latin agentis (“acting”).

Noun

agent

1. agent

References

• Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎, Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

Noun

agent m

1. agent (someone who works for an intelligence agency)

Related terms

• See akt
• agentura

Further reading

• agent in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• agent in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Etymology

From Latin agēns.

Noun

agent c (singular definite agenten, plural indefinite agenter)

1. agent (all senses)

See also

• agens
• kommissionær
• repræsentant
• subjekt

Etymology

From Latin agēns.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aːˈɣɛnt/
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

• audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: a‧gent

Noun

agent m (plural agenten, diminutive agentje n)

1. a police officer
2. an undercover agent
3. an agent, a surrogate (one who acts on behalf of another)

Anagrams

• gaten

Etymology

From Latin agēns, agentis

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.ʒɑ̃/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

agent m (plural agents)

1. agent

Further reading

• “agent” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• étang
• gante, ganté
• géant
• gênât

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈa.ɡent/, [ˈa.ɡɛnt]

Verb

agent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of agō

Alternative forms

• aghent

Etymology

French agent

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [aˈdʒent]

Noun

agent m (plural agenți, feminine equivalent agentă)

1. agent

Etymology

From Latin agēns, present active participle of agere (“to drive, lead, conduct, manage, perform, do”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ǎɡent/
• Hyphenation: a‧gent

Noun

àgent m (Cyrillic spelling а̀гент)

1. agent

References

• “agent” in Hrvatski jezični portal

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

agent c

1. an agent

References

• agent in Svenska Akademiens Ordlista över svenska språket (13th ed., online)