agon

C2+ Topic:War & Conflict

US /ˈæɡɑn/ UK /ˈaɡɒn/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a conflict or struggle, especially the central one in a drama

The play's agon pits duty against desire.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a conflict or struggle,... conflict struggle contest strife clash

Opposites

peace harmony accord

Word family

Derived forms agonistagonisticagony protagonist antagonist

Related forms agony agonize protagonist antagonist

Etymology

From Ancient Greek agṓn ('contest, struggle, gathering for games'), from ágein ('to lead, drive, conduct').

agṓn Ancient Greek ágein Ancient Greek *h₂eǵ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

War & Conflict

External links

# agon

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈæɡɑn/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈaɡɒn/

## Meanings
1. a conflict or struggle, especially the central one in a drama

## Examples
- The play's agon pits duty against desire.

## Synonyms
- conflict
- struggle
- contest
- strife
- clash

## Antonyms
- peace
- harmony
- accord

## Derived Forms
- agonist
- agonistic
- agony
- protagonist
- antagonist

## Related Forms
- agony
- agonize
- protagonist
- antagonist

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: agṓn
- Root: ágein
- Root: *h₂eǵ-

## Etymology
From Ancient Greek agṓn ('contest, struggle, gathering for games'), from ágein ('to lead, drive, conduct').

## AI Etymology
agon comes from Ancient Greek agṓn ('contest, struggle, gathering for games'), from ágein ('to lead, drive, conduct'). The path is chiefly one of transmission: an older form is taken into English, with the word's shape and meaning carried through the language names and forms preserved in the history. In modern use, the noun sense is "a conflict or struggle, especially the central one in a drama", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as agony, agonize, protagonist, antagonist and derivatives such as agonist, agonistic, agony, protagonist, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Ancient Greek agṓn, Ancient Greek ágein, Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

## Topics
- War & Conflict

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