agent

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈeɪ.d͡ʒənt/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (Southern England):

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• Hyphenation: a‧gent

agent (plural agents)

2. One who exerts power, or has the power to act.
   • 1862, Brigham Young, “Call for Teams to Go to the Frontiers, etc.”, in Journal of Discourses, volume 9:

     Seeing we are so wonderfully endowed with priceless gifts by our Heavenly Father, will he not require usury at our hands? He will. But he has made us agents to ourselves, which makes us responsible for the way in which we use the talents he has given us, for the manner we expend the gold and silver, the wheat and fine flour, the cattle upon a thousand hills, and the wine and oil, for they all belong to Him

4. (law) One who acts for, or in the place of, another (the principal), by that person's authority; someone entrusted to act on behalf of or in behalf of another, such as to transact business for them.

   He worked as an agent for the government.

   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 36, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

     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.

   • 2024 April 22, Jeanne Sahadi, “What a buyer’s agent will do for you when you’re looking for a new home”, in CNN Business‎^[1], archived from the original on 18 January 2025:

     Having a good buyer’s agent also means having someone who is knowledgeable about the local real estate market and who has the skills and competence to negotiate with the seller’s agent on your behalf.

6. A person who looks for work for another person and brokers a deal between the hiree and hirer.
   • 2016 June 4, Press Association, “Ronald Koeman’s agent says Dutchman has agreed terms with Everton”, in The Guardian‎^[2], archived from the original on 22 June 2021:

     Ronald Koeman has agreed a deal with Everton to become their new manager, his agent has reportedly told Dutch media. The agent Rob Jansen said, according to the popular Voetbal International website, that it was now down to Southampton and Everton to agree a compensation package for the Dutchman, who has a year remaining on his contract at St Mary’s.

8. Someone who works for an intelligence agency: whether an officer or employee thereof or anyone else who agrees to help their efforts (for ideology, for money, as blackmailee, or otherwise).
   • Paragraph 4, Public Prosecutor v Yue Mun Yew Gary [2012] SGHC 188

     @Gary, are you a PAP agent? ... =) trying to incite rebellion and revolution on this site so that the govt will have an excuse to take down this site?

10. An active power or cause or substance; something (e.g. biological, chemical, thermal, etc.) that has the power to produce an effect.
    • 1807, James Edward Smith, chapter 11, in An introduction to physiological and systematical botany:

      So far seems to be the work of chemistry alone; at least we have no right to conclude that any other agent interferes; since hay, when it happens to imbibe moisture, exhibits nearly the same processes."

    • 2025 June 13, Rhys Southan, Helena Ward, Jen Semler, “A timing problem for instrumental convergence”, in Philosophical Studies, Springer Science+Business Media, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC:

      Agents are means-rational insofar as they effectively pursue the goals they currently have—but means-rationality (even under a narrow-scope interpretation) does not prohibit agents from changing their goals or dropping them entirely.

12. (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.
14. (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".

    Antonym: patient

    Coordinate terms: subject, object; rheme, theme

    Near-synonym: doer

    • 2009, Tarsee Li, The Verbal System of the Aramaic of Daniel: An Explanation in the Context of Grammaticalization, page 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.

16. (gambling) A cheat who is assisted by dishonest casino staff.
    • 1978, John Scarne, Scarne's guide to casino gambling, page 108:

      Nevada casinos are fleeced out of millions of dollars yearly by agents (cheats acting as players) in collusion with crooked Black Jack dealers and pit bosses.

17. (US) A law enforcement officer tasked with enforcing a specific field of law.

    The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives officers are just simply referred to as "ATF agents".

    • 2025 January 26, Priscilla Alvarez, Rosa Flores, “Trump administration launches nationwide immigration enforcement blitz”, in CNN‎^[3], archived from the original on 9 March 2025:

      In the Atlanta suburb of Lilburn, ICE agents arrested Walter Valladares, a 53-year-old undocumented immigrant from Honduras, according to family members who spoke with CNN.

19. (usually US, capitalized) A respectful term of address for an agent, especially a law enforcement agent.
    • 2013, Rockstar Games, Grand Theft Auto V, scene: Standoff between Michael de Santa and Steve Haines, level/area: The Wrap Up:

      Steve Haines (Robert Bogue): Agent Sanchez! Apprehend these suspects!

• (one who exerts power): See also Thesaurus:doer
• (one who acts in place of another): See also Thesaurus:deputy
• (person who looks for work for another person): manager, representative, rep
• (someone who works for an intelligence agency): See also Thesaurus:spy
• (grammar): actor, performer

• (antonym(s) of “grammar”): patient, recipient, undergoer

• “agent”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “agent”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

• Tegan, ganté, genta

agent (definite accusative agenti, plural agentlər)

1. agent

• “agent” in Obastan.com.

Borrowed from Latin agentem. First attested in the 14th century.^[1]

• IPA^(key): (Central) [əˈʒen]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [əˈʒent]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [aˈd͡ʒent]

• Audio (Barcelona):

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agent m or f by sense (plural agents)

1. agent

• agent doble
• agent secret

• agència

• “agent”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “agent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “agent”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

From English agent.

agent

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) sales agent

Latin agentis (“acting”).

agent

1. agent

• agentlik

• Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002), Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎^[4], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

First attested in the 18th century.^[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈaɡɛnt]

• Audio:

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agent m anim

1. agent, spy (someone who works for an intelligence agency)
2. agent, representative (someone who represents a company)

agent m anim or m inan

1. (computing) agent (program that acts on someone's behalf)

when animate:

when inanimate:

• See akt

• “agent”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “agent”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “agent”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

From Latin agēns.

agent c (singular definite agenten, plural indefinite agenter)

1. agent (all senses)

• spion

• agens
• kommissionær
• repræsentant
• subjekt

• “agent” in Den Danske Ordbog

Borrowed from French agent, from Latin agēns (“one who acts”).

• IPA^(key): /aːˈɣɛnt/

• Audio:

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• Hyphenation: agent
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

agent m (plural agenten, diminutive agentje n, feminine agente)

1. a police officer

   Toen confisceerde de agent de wiet en rookte het in één keer op.

   Then the police officer confiscated the weed and smoked it all in one go.

   Synonym: politieman

   1. a police officer of the low(est) rank, constable, junior officer

      Synonym: politieagent

2. an undercover agent; intelligence officer, secret agent
3. an agent (one who acts on behalf of another)
   1. a broker

      Synonym: makelaar

   2. a middleman, surrogate

• agentschap
• beursagent
• undercoveragent
• veiligheidsagent
• verzekeringsagent
• wisselagent

• agens

• Afrikaans: agent
• → Caribbean Javanese: akhèn
• → Indonesian: agen

• gaten

Inherited from Middle French agent, from Latin agentem.

• IPA^(key): /a.ʒɑ̃/

• Audio:

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• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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• Audio (France (Somain)):

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agent m (plural agents, feminine agente)

1. agent

• agence

• → Turkish: ajan
• → Persian: آژان (âžân)

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

• étang
• gante, ganté
• géant
• gênât

Unadapted borrowing from English agent.

agent m (invariable, feminine agente)

1. agent

• tange, tenga

Borrowed from Polish agent.

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.ɡɛnt/
• Rhymes: -aɡɛnt
• Syllabification: a‧gent

agent m inan (female equivalent agentka)

1. (espionage) agent (someone who works for an intelligence agency)

   Synonym: szpijona

2. (business) representative (company agent)

   Synonyms: przedstawicél, przedstôwca

• Jan Trepczyk (1994), “agent”, in Słownik polsko-kaszubski (in Kashubian), volumes 1–2
• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011), “agent”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎^[5]
• “agent”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈa.ɡɛnt]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈaː.d͡ʒent]

agent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of agō

From Latin agens, genitive agentis.

agent m (definite singular agenten, indefinite plural agenter, definite plural agentene)

1. an agent

• “agent” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “agent” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

From Latin agens, genitive agentis.

agent m (definite singular agenten, indefinite plural agentar, definite plural agentane)

1. an agent

• “agent” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Borrowed from German Agent.^[1][2] First attested in 1609.^[3] Doublet of agens.

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.ɡɛnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɡɛnt
• Syllabification: a‧gent

agent m pers (female equivalent agentka, diminutive agencik or agenciak)

1. (espionage) agent (someone who works for an intelligence agency)

   Synonyms: szpieg, wywiadowca

2. commission agent (agent entrusted with the possession of goods to be sold in the agent's name)

   Synonym: ajent

3. (business) representative (company agent)

   Synonym: przedstawiciel

4. (acting, literature) impresario, literary agent

   agent literacki ― a literary agent

5. (espionage) officer, peeper, secret agent

   Synonyms: cichociemny, tajniak

6. (Middle Polish) legal defense assistant [from the middle of the 17th century to the middle of the 18th century]^[3]

   agent trybunału ― a tribunal assistant

• “agent”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[6] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “agent”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[7] (in Polish)
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814), “agient”, in Słownik języka polskiego
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861), “agent”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861

• aghent

Borrowed from French agent.

• IPA^(key): [aˈdʒent]

agent m (plural agenți, feminine equivalent agentă)

1. agent

• “agent”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

• awgent

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈeːdʒənt/, /ˈɑː-/

agent (plural agents)

1. (law) solicitor

agent (third-person singular simple present agents, present participle agentin, simple past and past participle agentit)

1. to act as law agent

• “agent, n. & v. tr.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.

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

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

àgent m anim (Cyrillic spelling а̀гент)

1. agent

• “agent”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

• IPA^(key): /aˈɡɛnːt/

• Audio:

  (file)

agent c

1. an agent

• aktör
• ombud

• “agent”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

• agnet, genat, tagen, tagne

agent

1. Latin spelling of агент (ağent)