agent

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Latin agens, present participle of agere (“to drive", lead, conduct, manage, perform, do”)

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈeɪ.dʒɛnt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

agent (plural agents)

1. One who exerts power, or has the power to act; an actor.

   • Heaven made us agents, free to good or ill. --Dryden.

2. One who acts for, or in the place of, another (the principal), by authority from him; one intrusted with the business of another; a substitute; a deputy; a factor.

   • 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. --Herman Melville, Moby Dick, ch. 36

3. An active power or cause; that which has the power to produce an effect; as, a physical, chemical, or medicinal agent; as, heat is a powerful agent.
4. (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.
5. (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".

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:deputy

Antonyms

• (grammar): patient

Derived terms

Terms derived from the noun "agent"

Agent Orange agent noun anti-caking agent antibacterial agent anticaking agent antimicrobial agent bleaching agent bonding agent chelating agent chemical agent clarifying agent

cleaning agent coating agent double agent firming agent flavoring agent flavouring agent gelling agent leavening agent lifting agent oxidizing agent processing agent

purchasing agent raising agent reducing agent secret agent sourcing agent structuring agent thickening agent travel agent user agent wetting agent whitening agent

Related terms

• act
• action
• agency

Translations

one who exerts power

Finnish: toimija (fi) Hebrew: סוכן (sokhen) m., סוכנת (sokhenet) f. Italian: agente (it) m. Latin: actor (la) m.

Portuguese: agente (pt) m. Scottish Gaelic: neach-ionaid m. and f. Swahili: wakala (sw) Taos: oxènti’ína

one who acts in place of another

Bulgarian: , представител (bg), посредник (bg), агент (bg) Crimean Tatar: agent Danish: agent (da) c. Dutch: vertegenwoordiger (nl), agent (nl) Finnish: asiamies (fi), agentti (fi) French: agent (fr) m. German: Agent (de) m. Hebrew: סוכן (sokhen) m., סוכנת (sokhenet) f. Hungarian: ügynök (hu), képviselő (hu) Italian: agente (it) m.

Japanese: 代理人 (dairinin) Korean: 대리인 (daeriin) Latin: procurator (la) m. Norwegian: agent (no) m. Portuguese: agente (pt) m. Russian: агент (ru) (agént) m. Spanish: agente (es) m. Swahili: wakala (sw) Swedish: agent (sv) c. Turkish: acente (tr)

active power or cause

Bulgarian: действаща сила (bg) Finnish: toimija (fi), vaikuttaja (fi), vaikuttava aine (fi) (medicine), taudinaiheuttaja (fi) (pathology) Italian: agente (it) m.

Latin: actor (la) m. Portuguese: agente (pt) m. Swedish: agent (sv) c.

computing: part of the system that performs action on behalf of a client or server

Finnish: agentti (fi) Portuguese: agente (pt) m.

Swahili: wakala (sw) Swedish: agent (sv) c.

grammar: performer of the action in a sentence

Finnish: agentti (fi) German: Agens (de) n.

Hungarian: ágens (hu) Swedish: agent (sv) c.

See also

• proxy

External links

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

Anagrams

• Tegan

---

Crimean Tatar

Etymology

Latin agentis - acting.

Noun

agent

1. agent

Declension

    declension of agent

nominative	agent
genitive	agentniñ
dative	agentke
accusative	agentni
locative	agentte
ablative	agentten

Derived terms

• agentlik

References

• Useinov & Mireev Dictionary, Simferopol, Dolya, 2002 [1]

---

Dutch

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Noun

agent m. (plural agenten, diminutive agentje)

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

Derived terms

• agentschap
• politieagent

Anagrams

• gaten

---

French

Etymology

From Latin agens, agentis

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Noun

agent m. (plural agents)

1. Agent

Anagrams

• étang
• gante, ganté
• géant
• gênât

---

Latin

Verb

agent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of agō

---

Romanian

Alternative forms

• aghent

Etymology

French agent

Pronunciation

• IPA: [aˈdʒent]

Noun

agent m. (plural agenți; feminine equivalent agentă)

1. agent

Declension

declension of agent

	singular		plural
gender m.	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	un agent	agentul	niște agenți	agenții
genitive/dative	unui agent	agentului	unor agenți	agenților

---

Serbo-Croatian

Noun

àgent m.

1. agent

Declension

    declension of agent

	singular	plural
nominative	agent	agenti
genitive	agenta	agenata
dative	agentu	agentima
accusative	agenta	agente
vocative	agente	agenti
locative	agentu	agentima
instrumental	agentom	agentima

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ǎɡent/
• Hyphenation: a‧gent

Noun

àgent m. (Cyrillic spelling а̀гент)

1. agent

Declension

    declension of agent

	singular	plural
nominative	agent	agenti
genitive	agenta	agenata
dative	agentu	agentima
accusative	agenta	agente
vocative	agente	agenti
locative	agentu	agentima
instrumental	agentom	agentima

---

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

agent c.

1. an agent

Declension

Declension of agent

	singular		plural
Common	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	agent	agenten	agenter	agenterna
genitive	agents	agentens	agenters	agenternas

See also

• aktör
• ombud