Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1400-1500
Language: Medieval Latin
Origin: , from the present participle of Latin agere 'to drive, lead, act, move, do'

agent

 noun
     
NEW! See related topics: MEDIAPERFORMINGBUSINESS BASICSCHEMISTRYGOVERNMENTPOLICE
a‧gent S3 W2 [countable]
1BB a person or company that represents another person or company, especially in business:
Our agent in Rio deals with all our Brazilian business.
agent for
We're acting as agents for Mr Watson.
➔ estate agent, real estate agent, land agent, travel agent
2AMAP someone who finds work for actors, musicians etc, or who finds someone to publish a writer's work:
My agent has a new script for me to look at.
3PGSCP someone who works for a government or police department, especially in order to get secret information about another country or organization:
an FBI agent
an undercover (=secret) agent
 ➔ secret agent, double agent
4HC technical a chemical or substance that is used for a particular purpose or that has a particular effect:
Soap is a cleansing agent.
5 someone or something that affects or changes a situation
agent for/of change
Technological advances are the chief agents of change.
➔ free agent
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
 
Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

ADVERTISING AND MARKETINGANIMALSBANKING
BIOLOGYBUSINESS BASICSCOMPUTERS
CLOTHESDAILY LIFEEDUCATION
FINANCEFOODGRAMMAR
HAIR AND BEAUTYHUMANLAW
MUSICNATURESPORT
STOCKS AND SHARESTECHNOLOGYTRADE