"depart suddenly and secretly," especially to escape debt or the law, 1560s, from French abscondre "to hide" and directly from Latin abscondere "to hide, conceal, put out of sight," from assimilated form of ab "off, away from" (see ab-) + condere "put together, store," from assimilated form of com- "together" (see com-) + -dere "put" (from PIE root *dhe- "to put, place"). Related: Absconded; absconder; absconding.

1560s, "perfection," a sense now obsolete, from absolute (adj.) + -ness. Meaning "unlimited rule" is from 1610s; that of "unconditional quality" is from 1650s.

"highest point," 1560s, from Greek akmē "(highest) point, edge; peak of anything," hence "prime (of life, etc.), the best time" (from PIE *ak-ma-, suffixed form of root *ak- "be sharp, rise (out) to a point, pierce"). In English it was written in Greek letters until c. 1620. The U.S. grocery store chain was founded 1891 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1560s, "one who notifies," agent noun from advertise (v.). From 1712 as "one who issues public notice," hence its use as a name for newspapers or journals (1769).

"flaunting; flauntingly," 1560s, from a- (1) + flaunt.

variety of banded, colored quartz, 1560s, from French agate, from Latin achates, from Greek akhatēs, the name of a river in Sicily where the stones were found (Pliny). But the river could as easily be named for the stone.

Earlier in English as achate (early 13c.), directly from Latin. The Elizabethan sense of "a diminutive person" is from the small figures cut in agates for seals, etc., and the notion of smallness is preserved in typographer's agate (1838), the U.S. name of the 5.5-point font called in Great Britain ruby. Meaning "toy marble made of glass resembling agate" is from 1843 (colloquially called an aggie). Related: Agatine.

1560s, "debate, discussion" (on the notion of "a mental tossing to and fro"), from French agitation, from Latin agitationem (nominative agitatio) "motion, agitation," noun of action from past-participle stem of agitare "move to and fro," frequentative of agere "to set in motion, drive forward; keep in movement" (from PIE root *ag- "to drive, draw out or forth, move").

The physical sense of "state of being shaken or moving violently" is from 1580s; the meaning "state of being mentally agitated" is from 1722; that of "arousing and sustaining public attention" to some political or social cause is from 1828. Old English glossed Latin agitatio with unstilnis.

1560s, "large carnivorous reptile of the Americas," lagarto, aligarto, a corruption of Spanish el lagarto (de Indias) "the lizard (of the Indies)," from Latin lacertus (see lizard), with Spanish definite article el, from Latin ille (see le).

The modern form of the English word is attested from 1620s, with unetymological -r as in tater, feller, etc. (Alligarter was an early variant) and an overall Latin appearance. The slang meaning "non-playing devotee of swing music" is attested from 1936; the phrase see you later, alligator is from a 1956 song title.

"pertaining to an alphabet; in the order of the alphabet," 1560s, from alphabet + -ical. Alphabetary (adj.) also is from 1560s; alphabetic is from 1640s. Related: Alphabetically.

1560s, "favored food or drink of the gods," from Latin ambrosia, from Greek ambrosia "food of the gods," noun use of fem. of ambrosios "divine," probably literally "of the immortals," from ambrotos "immortal, imperishable," from a- "not" (see a- (3)) + mbrotos, related to mortos "mortal," from PIE root *mer- "to rub away, harm" (also "to die" and forming words referring to death and to beings subject to death).

The name was applied to certain herbs by Pliny and Dioscorides; it has been used of various foods for mortals since 1680s (originally of fruit drinks); and was used figuratively for "anything delightful" by 1731.