ago

[uh-goh] /əˈgoʊ/

adjective

gone; gone by; past (usually preceded by a noun):

five days ago.

adverb

in past time; in the past:

All this happened long ago.

Origin

before 1000; Middle English ago(n), Old English āgān, past participle of āgān to go by, pass, equivalent to ā- a-³ + gān to go¹

Examples from the web for ago

Being proisrael is no defense, as i long ago learned to my cost.
She was created by a group of shamans thousands of years ago.
Is a trend, just the same as he faced when he started years ago.
Billions of years ago, the extraterrestrial tath ki was born in the coal sack nebula.
It seems to me a book that somebody should have written a century ago.
They started slow long ago, head to toe, healthy, wealthy and wise.
Geological evidence indicates it was deliberately buried four million years ago.
Public and private buildings were dismantled and the stone reused centuries ago.
It was not, after all, so very long ago, but no one could make that journey today.
But about thirty years ago, credit rolls began to grow greatly in length.

British Dictionary definitions for ago

ago

/əˈɡəʊ/

adverb

in the past: five years ago, long ago

Usage note

The use of ago with since (it's ten years ago since he wrote the novel) is redundant and should be avoided: it is ten years since he wrote the novel

Word Origin

C14 ago, from Old English āgān to pass away

Word Origin and History for ago

adj.

early 14c., shortened form of Old English agan, agone "departed, passed away," past participle of an obsolete verb ago "to go forth," formed from a- "away" (perhaps here used as an intensive prefix) + gan "go" (see go (v.)). Agone remains a dialectal variant.

Related Abbreviations for ago

AGO

American Gastroenterological Organization