English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: ə.gāp´, IPA^(key): /əˈɡeɪp/
• Rhymes: -eɪp

Adjective

agape ‎(comparative more agape, superlative most agape)

1. In a state of astonishment, wonder, expectation, or eager attention; as with mouth hanging open.
   • 1923, Arthur Michael Samuel, “Roubiliac (1695-1762)”, in The Mancroft essays‎, page 159:

     There I stand, agape like any country bumpkin

   • 1980, Joel Flegler, Fanfare‎, volume 3, page 198:

     That's all well and good; one can sit, agape, reading the copious liner notes to this or any Explorer record, but it's what's inside the jacket that counts.

   • 1996, Lech J. Majewski; Julian Schnabel, Basquiat:

     The restaurant staff and OTHER DINNER GUESTS watch, agape.

2. wide open.
   • 1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural Life Chapter VIII

     With his mouth agape and his hands clenched, Rufus Dawes, incapable of further speech, made a last effort to nod assent, but his head fell upon his breast; the next moment, the flickering light, the gloomy prison, the eager face of the doctor, and the astonished face of Vickers, vanished from before his straining eyes.

   • 1995 September 24, “Stop Me If Yov've Heard this One”, in Washington Post:

     In the last frame, he throws back his head and wails, his mouth agape.

   • 1996 August 2, “Johnson can fly, and he does it without wings”, in Chicago Sun-Times:

     With dropped jaws and eyes agape, a world beholds the blur of Michael Johnson

   • 2004, Jeffrey C. Carrier, John A. Musick, & Michael R. Heithaus, Biology of Sharks and their Relatives‎, page 171

     If the slightly agape mouth is closed prior to mouth opening, this is termed the preparatory phase and is more common in suction-feeding bony fishes than elasmobranchs.

Usage notes

• Almost always used after a noun or noun phrase it modifies.

Synonyms

• (in a state of astonishment): open-mouthed, dumbstruck
• (open wide): agog

Translations

Adverb

agape ‎(comparative more agape, superlative most agape)

1. In a state of astonishment, wonder, expectation, or eager attention.
   • 1987 June 26, “On the Prowl in Grizzly Country”, in Chicago Tribune:

     Three of us--two biologists and I--were crouched behind a huge boulder at the water's edge and staring agape as the largest bear I ever saw came toward us

   • 2005 September 24, “Angry Surfers Say Cage-Diving Changes Great White's Way”, in Wall Street Journal:

     "This is Sammy 91," he told the two dozen tourists watching agape."

   • 2008 January 8, “Reading gets the glitzy treatment”, in BBC News:

     One features a science teacher looking agape at the camera which has caught him reading red-handed.

2. open wide.
   • 1911 January 7, “The Man-killer”, in Poverty Bay Herald:

     Its mouth yawned agape

   • 1996, Perri O'Shaughnessy, Invasion of Privacy‎, page 508

     The bathroom door stood agape, and the peeling vinyl floor was bare.

   • 2005, Terry Goodkind, Chainfire‎, page 427

     He glanced up into Richard's eyes, his own wide with wonder, his mouth hanging agape.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek ἀγάπη ‎(agápē).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ä-gä´pā, IPA^(key): /əˈɡɑː.peɪ/

Noun

agape ‎(plural agapae)

Agape, or Love-feast (from Roller's "Catacombes de Rome").

1. (Christianity) the love of God for mankind, or the benevolent love of Christians for others.
2. spiritual, altruistic, beneficial love which wills good for others.
3. a love feast, especially one held in the early Christian Church in connection with the eucharist.

Translations

References

• agape on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “agape” in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.
• “agape” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.

French

Noun

agape f ‎(plural agapes)

1. agape²

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀγάπη ‎(agápē, “love; the love between man and God; Christian love feasts”)

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈa.ɡa.peː/

Noun

agapē f ‎(genitive agapēs); first declension

1. Christian love or charity.
2. The love feast of the early Christian Church; agape.

Inflection

First declension, Greek type.

Descendants

• Portuguese: ágape
• Spanish: ágape

References

• agape in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• AGAPE in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)