"agon" meaning in English

See agon in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈæ.ɡəʊn/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈæ.ɡoʊn/ [US] Audio: en-au-agon.ogg Forms: agons [plural], agones [plural]
Etymology: From Latin agōn, from Ancient Greek ἀγών (agṓn, “contest”). Etymology templates: {{bor|en|la|agōn}} Latin agōn, {{der|en|grc|ἀγών||contest}} Ancient Greek ἀγών (agṓn, “contest”) Head templates: {{en-noun|~|s|agones}} agon (countable and uncountable, plural agons or agones)
  1. (countable) A struggle or contest; conflict; especially between the protagonist and antagonist in a literary work. Tags: countable Translations (a struggle or contest): taistelu (Finnish), Agon [masculine] (German), agone [masculine] (Italian), agon [masculine] (Portuguese)
    Sense id: en-agon-en-noun-BPRNhcA9 Disambiguation of 'a struggle or contest': 77 4 17 2
  2. (countable) An intellectual conflict or apparent competition of ideas. Tags: countable
    Sense id: en-agon-en-noun-xNUgGpqS
  3. (countable) A contest in ancient Greece, as in athletics or music, in which prizes were awarded. Tags: countable Translations (a contest in ancient Greece): agon (Finnish), Agon [masculine] (German), agone [masculine] (Italian), agon [masculine] (Polish)
    Sense id: en-agon-en-noun-zlcI9-Qd Disambiguation of 'a contest in ancient Greece': 18 3 76 3
  4. (uncountable) A two-player board game played on a hexagonally-tiled board, popular in Victorian times. Tags: uncountable Categories (topical): Ancient Greece, Board games, Drama Synonyms: queen's guard Translations (a two-player boardgame): agon (Finnish), agone [masculine] (Italian)
    Sense id: en-agon-en-noun-cOvwV6ug Disambiguation of Ancient Greece: 2 9 30 59 Disambiguation of Board games: 6 15 12 67 Disambiguation of Drama: 25 12 14 49 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 8 entries, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Italian translations, Terms with Japanese translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Portuguese translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 9 20 22 49 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 10 19 19 52 Disambiguation of Pages with 8 entries: 7 17 17 48 5 6 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 4 20 18 51 3 4 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 14 19 20 47 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 12 19 18 50 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 12 20 17 50 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 11 19 18 52 Disambiguation of Terms with Japanese translations: 11 19 18 52 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 15 19 20 46 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 16 18 18 47 Disambiguation of 'a two-player boardgame': 3 11 11 75
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: agonal Related terms: agony, agonism, antagonism, antagonist, protagonism, protagonist Translations (a test of will): taistelu (Finnish), Agon [masculine] (German), agone [masculine] (Italian)
Disambiguation of 'a test of will': 59 0 41 0

Inflected forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "agonal"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "agōn"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin agōn",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grc",
        "3": "ἀγών",
        "4": "",
        "5": "contest"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek ἀγών (agṓn, “contest”)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Latin agōn, from Ancient Greek ἀγών (agṓn, “contest”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "agons",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "agones",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~",
        "2": "s",
        "3": "agones"
      },
      "expansion": "agon (countable and uncountable, plural agons or agones)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "a‧gon"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "agony"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "agonism"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "antagonism"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "antagonist"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "protagonism"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "protagonist"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 134:",
          "text": "It was not ecological pressure or shortages of protein, as anthropologist Marvin Harris has claimed; institutionalized violence, as opposed to the stylized agons of hunters over grievances, was the shadow side of the Neolithic Revolution.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 October 17, Volodymyr Yermolenko, “Europe seeks peace, not war. But will it be ready if war comes to Europe?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:",
          "text": "The other ethical system is that of agon. Agon is a battlefield. We enter agon not to exchange, but to fight. We dream of winning but are also prepared to lose – including to lose ourselves, even in the literal sense of dying for a great cause.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A struggle or contest; conflict; especially between the protagonist and antagonist in a literary work."
      ],
      "id": "en-agon-en-noun-BPRNhcA9",
      "links": [
        [
          "struggle",
          "struggle"
        ],
        [
          "contest",
          "contest"
        ],
        [
          "conflict",
          "conflict"
        ],
        [
          "protagonist",
          "protagonist"
        ],
        [
          "antagonist",
          "antagonist"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) A struggle or contest; conflict; especially between the protagonist and antagonist in a literary work."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "77 4 17 2",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "a struggle or contest",
          "word": "taistelu"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "77 4 17 2",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "a struggle or contest",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Agon"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "77 4 17 2",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "a struggle or contest",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "agone"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "77 4 17 2",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "a struggle or contest",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "agon"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1986 March 23, Harold Bloom, “Freud, the Greatest Modern Writer”, in New York Times:",
          "text": "Freud's originality stemmed from his aggression and ambition in his agon with biology.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022, China Miéville, chapter 6, in A Spectre, Haunting: On the Communist Manifesto, →OCLC:",
          "text": "The point, though, is that to fully and uncritically surrender to such agon against individuals is to invite one's own ethical degeneration; […]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An intellectual conflict or apparent competition of ideas."
      ],
      "id": "en-agon-en-noun-xNUgGpqS",
      "links": [
        [
          "intellect",
          "intellect"
        ],
        [
          "conflict",
          "conflict"
        ],
        [
          "apparent",
          "apparent"
        ],
        [
          "competition",
          "competition"
        ],
        [
          "idea",
          "idea"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) An intellectual conflict or apparent competition of ideas."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "A contest in ancient Greece, as in athletics or music, in which prizes were awarded."
      ],
      "id": "en-agon-en-noun-zlcI9-Qd",
      "links": [
        [
          "Greece",
          "Greece"
        ],
        [
          "athletics",
          "athletics"
        ],
        [
          "music",
          "music"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) A contest in ancient Greece, as in athletics or music, in which prizes were awarded."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "18 3 76 3",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "a contest in ancient Greece",
          "word": "agon"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "18 3 76 3",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "a contest in ancient Greece",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Agon"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "18 3 76 3",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "a contest in ancient Greece",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "agone"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "18 3 76 3",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "a contest in ancient Greece",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "agon"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "9 20 22 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "10 19 19 52",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "7 17 17 48 5 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 8 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "4 20 18 51 3 4",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "14 19 20 47",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "12 19 18 50",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "12 20 17 50",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 19 18 52",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Italian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 19 18 52",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Japanese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "15 19 20 46",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "16 18 18 47",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "2 9 30 59",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Ancient Greece",
          "orig": "en:Ancient Greece",
          "parents": [
            "Ancient Europe",
            "Ancient Near East",
            "History of Greece",
            "Ancient history",
            "History of Europe",
            "Ancient Asia",
            "Greece",
            "History of Asia",
            "History",
            "Europe",
            "Asia",
            "All topics",
            "Earth",
            "Eurasia",
            "Fundamental",
            "Nature"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 15 12 67",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Board games",
          "orig": "en:Board games",
          "parents": [
            "Tabletop games",
            "Games",
            "Recreation",
            "Human activity",
            "Human behaviour",
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "25 12 14 49",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Drama",
          "orig": "en:Drama",
          "parents": [
            "Theater",
            "Art",
            "Entertainment",
            "Culture",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A two-player board game played on a hexagonally-tiled board, popular in Victorian times."
      ],
      "id": "en-agon-en-noun-cOvwV6ug",
      "links": [
        [
          "board game",
          "board game"
        ],
        [
          "Victorian",
          "Victorian"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(uncountable) A two-player board game played on a hexagonally-tiled board, popular in Victorian times."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "queen's guard"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "3 11 11 75",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "a two-player boardgame",
          "word": "agon"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 11 11 75",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "a two-player boardgame",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "agone"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈæ.ɡəʊn/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈæ.ɡoʊn/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-agon.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/7d/En-au-agon.ogg/En-au-agon.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/En-au-agon.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "_dis1": "59 0 41 0",
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "a test of will",
      "word": "taistelu"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "59 0 41 0",
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "a test of will",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Agon"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "59 0 41 0",
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "a test of will",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "agone"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "agon"
  ],
  "word": "agon"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English nouns with irregular plurals",
    "English terms borrowed from Latin",
    "English terms derived from Ancient Greek",
    "English terms derived from Latin",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 8 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Requests for review of French translations",
    "Requests for review of Japanese translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "Terms with Japanese translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Portuguese translations",
    "en:Ancient Greece",
    "en:Board games",
    "en:Drama"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "agonal"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "agōn"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin agōn",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grc",
        "3": "ἀγών",
        "4": "",
        "5": "contest"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek ἀγών (agṓn, “contest”)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Latin agōn, from Ancient Greek ἀγών (agṓn, “contest”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "agons",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "agones",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~",
        "2": "s",
        "3": "agones"
      },
      "expansion": "agon (countable and uncountable, plural agons or agones)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "a‧gon"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "agony"
    },
    {
      "word": "agonism"
    },
    {
      "word": "antagonism"
    },
    {
      "word": "antagonist"
    },
    {
      "word": "protagonism"
    },
    {
      "word": "protagonist"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 134:",
          "text": "It was not ecological pressure or shortages of protein, as anthropologist Marvin Harris has claimed; institutionalized violence, as opposed to the stylized agons of hunters over grievances, was the shadow side of the Neolithic Revolution.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 October 17, Volodymyr Yermolenko, “Europe seeks peace, not war. But will it be ready if war comes to Europe?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:",
          "text": "The other ethical system is that of agon. Agon is a battlefield. We enter agon not to exchange, but to fight. We dream of winning but are also prepared to lose – including to lose ourselves, even in the literal sense of dying for a great cause.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A struggle or contest; conflict; especially between the protagonist and antagonist in a literary work."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "struggle",
          "struggle"
        ],
        [
          "contest",
          "contest"
        ],
        [
          "conflict",
          "conflict"
        ],
        [
          "protagonist",
          "protagonist"
        ],
        [
          "antagonist",
          "antagonist"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) A struggle or contest; conflict; especially between the protagonist and antagonist in a literary work."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1986 March 23, Harold Bloom, “Freud, the Greatest Modern Writer”, in New York Times:",
          "text": "Freud's originality stemmed from his aggression and ambition in his agon with biology.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022, China Miéville, chapter 6, in A Spectre, Haunting: On the Communist Manifesto, →OCLC:",
          "text": "The point, though, is that to fully and uncritically surrender to such agon against individuals is to invite one's own ethical degeneration; […]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An intellectual conflict or apparent competition of ideas."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "intellect",
          "intellect"
        ],
        [
          "conflict",
          "conflict"
        ],
        [
          "apparent",
          "apparent"
        ],
        [
          "competition",
          "competition"
        ],
        [
          "idea",
          "idea"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) An intellectual conflict or apparent competition of ideas."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A contest in ancient Greece, as in athletics or music, in which prizes were awarded."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Greece",
          "Greece"
        ],
        [
          "athletics",
          "athletics"
        ],
        [
          "music",
          "music"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) A contest in ancient Greece, as in athletics or music, in which prizes were awarded."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English uncountable nouns"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A two-player board game played on a hexagonally-tiled board, popular in Victorian times."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "board game",
          "board game"
        ],
        [
          "Victorian",
          "Victorian"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(uncountable) A two-player board game played on a hexagonally-tiled board, popular in Victorian times."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "queen's guard"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈæ.ɡəʊn/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈæ.ɡoʊn/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-agon.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/7d/En-au-agon.ogg/En-au-agon.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/En-au-agon.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "a struggle or contest",
      "word": "taistelu"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "a struggle or contest",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Agon"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "a struggle or contest",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "agone"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "a struggle or contest",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "agon"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "a test of will",
      "word": "taistelu"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "a test of will",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Agon"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "a test of will",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "agone"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "a contest in ancient Greece",
      "word": "agon"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "a contest in ancient Greece",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Agon"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "a contest in ancient Greece",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "agone"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "a contest in ancient Greece",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "agon"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "a two-player boardgame",
      "word": "agon"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "a two-player boardgame",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "agone"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "agon"
  ],
  "word": "agon"
}

Download raw JSONL data for agon meaning in English (6.3kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-02-08 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-02-02 using wiktextract (f90d964 and 9dbd323). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.