German

Noun

Agent m ‎(genitive Agenten, plural Agenten, feminine Agentin)

1. agent (intermediary for certain services, such as for artistic performances or public relations)
2. agent, spy (person working for a secret service)

Declension

English

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/her; 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".
   • 2009, Tarsee Li, The Verbal System of the Aramaic of Daniel: An Explanation in the Context of Grammaticalization, p. 58:

     A verb is typically described as active when its subject is the agent or actor. By contrast, a verb is said to be passive when the subject does not perform the action, but is the patient, target, or undergoer of the action.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:deputy
• (grammar): actor, performer

Antonyms

• (grammar): patient, recipient, undergoer

Hyponyms

Derived terms

• Agent Orange
• agent noun

Related terms

• act
• action
• agency

Translations

See also

• proxy

Anagrams

• Tegan

Catalan

Noun

agent m ‎(plural agents)

1. agent

Crimean Tatar

Etymology

Latin agentis - acting.

Noun

agent

1. agent

Declension

Derived terms

• agentlik

References

• Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary], Simferopol: Dolya, ISBN 966-7980-89-8

Dutch

Etymology

From Latin agēns.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aːˈɣɛnt/
• Rhymes: -ɛnt
• Hyphenation: a‧gent

Noun

agent m ‎(plural agenten, diminutive agentje n)

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

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^(key): [aˈdʒent]

Noun

agent m ‎(plural agenți, feminine equivalent agentă)

1. agent

Declension

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Latin agēns, present active participle of agere ‎(“to drive, lead, conduct, manage, perform, do”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ǎɡent/
• Hyphenation: a‧gent

Noun

àgent m ‎(Cyrillic spelling а̀гент)

1. agent

Declension

References

• “agent” in Hrvatski jezični portal

Swedish

Pronunciation

Noun

agent c

1. an agent

Declension

Related terms

• agentfilm
• agentkontor
• agentprovision
• agentroman
• agentskap
• agentur
• agentverksamhet
• handelsagent

See also

• aktör
• ombud

References

• agent in Svenska Akademiens Ordlista över svenska språket (13th ed., online)