agile

See also: Agile

English

Alternative forms

• Agile (software engineering senses)

Etymology

From earlier agil, borrowed from Latin agilis (“agile, nimble”), from agō (“do, act; move”). See agent.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈæd͡ʒ.aɪl/, /ˈæd͡ʒ.əl/

  • Audio (California):

    (file)

    ,

    Audio (California):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈæd͡ʒ.ɑel/, /ˈæd͡ʒ.əl/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈɛd͡ʒ.aɪl/, [ˈɛd͡ʒ.ɑe̯ɫ], /ˈɛd͡ʒ.əl/
• Rhymes: -ædʒaɪl, -ædʒəl

Adjective

agile (comparative agiler or more agile, superlative agilest or most agile)

1. Having the faculty of quick motion in the limbs; apt or ready to move; loose-jointed.

   Synonym: nimble

   an agile creature

   an agile wit

   • 1901 August – 1902 April, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “Mr. Sherlock Holmes”, in The Hound of the Baskervilles: Another Adventure of Sherlock Holmes, London: George Newnes, […], published 1902, →OCLC, pages 13–14:

     The man drew out paper and tobacco and twirled the one up in the other with surprising dexterity. He had long, quivering fingers as agile and restless as the antennæ of an insect.

2. Characterised by quick motion.

   agile movements

3. (chiefly software engineering) Of or relating to agile software development, a technique for iterative and incremental development of software involving collaboration between teams.

   agile methods

Synonyms

• active, alert, nimble, brisk, lively, quick

Antonyms

• unagile

Derived terms

• agile gibbon
• agilely
• agileness
• agile wallaby
• agilist
• agility
• nonagile
• superagile

Translations

having the faculty of quick motion in the limbs

• Albanian: shkathët (sq)
• Amharic: ንቁ (nəḳu)
• Arabic: رَشِيق (rašīq), خَفِيف اَلْحَرَكَة (ḵafīf al-ḥaraka)
• Armenian: ճարպիկ (hy) (čarpik)
• Bulgarian: подвижен (bg) (podvižen), пъргав (bg) (pǎrgav), чевръст (bg) (čevrǎst)
• Burmese: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: àgil (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 敏捷 (zh) (mǐnjié)

• Czech: pohyblivý (cs) m, hbitý m, čilý (cs) m, svižný m, bystrý (cs) m (mentally)
• Danish: behændig (da), adræt (da)
• Dutch: beweeglijk (nl), lenig (nl), behendig (nl)
• Esperanto: facilmova
• Finnish: ketterä (fi)
• French: agile (fr)
• Galician: áxil (gl)
• German: behände (de), agil (de), wendig (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: εὐκίνητος (eukínētos)

• Hebrew: זריז (he)
• Irish: lúfar
• Japanese: すばしこい (ja) (subashikoi), 敏捷な (ja) (びんしょうな, binshō-na)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: agilis, pernix
• Latvian: veikls, vingrs, knašs, ņiprs, žigls
• Malay: tangkas, lincah
• Māori: kakama
• Mapudungun: trüf
• Norwegian: behendig (no), ledig, smidig (no), sprek
• Occitan: agil (oc)
• Persian: چابُک (fa), چالاک (fa), چُست (fa), تَر و فرز
• Polish: zręczny (pl), zwinny (pl)
• Portuguese: ágil (pt)
• Russian: ло́вкий (ru) (lóvkij), прово́рный (ru) (provórnyj), подви́жный (ru) (podvížnyj), ги́бкий (ru) (gíbkij)
• Scottish Gaelic: grad
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: гибак m

  Latin: gibak (sh) m

• Spanish: ágil (es)
• Sudovian: satrus
• Swedish: smidig (sv), vig (sv)
• Tagalog: maliksi
• Thai: ว่องไว (th) (wɔ̂ng-wai)
• Vietnamese: nhanh nhẹn (vi)

Noun

agile (uncountable)

1. (chiefly software engineering) Agile software development.

Derived terms

• big agile

Anagrams

• Eliga, liage

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin agilis (“swift”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.ʒil/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Canada (Shawinigan)):

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -il

Adjective

agile (plural agiles)

1. nimble, agile (quick and light in movement or action)

Derived terms

• agilement
• agilité

Further reading

• “agile”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• aigle
• gelai

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [aˈɡiːlə]

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: agi‧le

Adjective

agile

1. inflection of agil:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Etymology

From Latin agilis (“agile, nimble”), from agō (“do, act; move”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.d͡ʒi.le/
• Rhymes: -adʒile
• Hyphenation: à‧gi‧le

Adjective

agile m or f by sense (plural agili, superlative agilissimo)

1. agile, nimble

Derived terms

• agilmente

Related terms

• agilità

Further reading

• agile in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• algie, gelai, legai

Latin

Adjective

agile

1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of agilis

Scots

Etymology

From Latin agilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈdʒəil/

Adjective

agile (comparative mair agile, superlative maist agile)

1. agile

References

• Eagle, Andy, editor (2026), “agile”, in The Online Scots Dictionary‎^[2]

Spanish

Verb

agile

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of agir combined with le