agitate
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English
Etymology
From Middle English, from Latin agitatus, past participle of agitare (“to put in motion”), from agere (“to move”). Compare with French agiter. See act, agent.
Pronunciation
Verb
agitate (third-person singular simple present agitates, present participle agitating, simple past and past participle agitated)
- (transitive) To disturb or excite; to perturb or stir up (a person). [from 16th c.]
- He was greatly agitated by the news.
- (transitive) To cause to move with a violent, irregular action; to shake. [from 16th c.]
- to agitate water in a vessel
- The wind agitates the sea.
- 1830, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford:
- It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents — except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.
- To participate in political agitation (sense 3).
- 1981 August 1, Mitzel, “NAMBLA Says National Crackdown Starting”, in Gay Community News, page 3:
- NAMBLA is working to build a coalition of gay, lesbian, progressive and civil liberties groups to agitate against the increasing state attacks on gay men who associate with boys.
- (transitive, obsolete) To set in motion; to actuate. [16th–18th c.]
- (transitive, now rare) To discuss or debate. [from 16th c.]
- 1790, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Men[1]:
- Your speech at the time a bill for the regency was agitated now lies before me.
- (transitive, now rare) To mull over, or think deeply about; to consider, to devise. [from 17th c.]
- Politicians agitate desperate designs.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
to move with a violent, irregular action
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to move or actuate
to stir up, to disturb or excite
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to discuss with great earnestness; to debate
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to revolve in the mind, or view in all its aspects
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Further reading
- “agitate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “agitate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “agitate”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Esperanto
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Adverb
agitate
- present adverbial passive participle of agiti
Ido
Verb
agitate
- adverbial present passive participle of agitar
Italian
Adjective
agitate f
Anagrams
Latin
Verb
agitāte
Scots
Etymology
From Middle English, from Latin agitatus. Cognate with English agitate.
Pronunciation
Verb
agitate (third-person singular simple present agitates, present participle agitatin, simple past agitatit, past participle agitate)
- to agitate
References
- Eagle, Andy, editor (2024), “agitate”, in The Online Scots Dictionary[2]
Spanish
Verb
agitate
- second-person singular voseo imperative of agitar combined with te
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂eǵ-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
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- Italian non-lemma forms
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- Scots terms inherited from Middle English
- Scots terms derived from Middle English
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