Età

Età is a noun in Italian that denotes the length of time that has elapsed since birth in living beings, or a historical or geological period. In everyday language it differentiates stages of life—infanzia, fanciullezza, adolescenza, età adulta—and in historical terms it marks eras such as l'età della Pietra (Stone Age) or l'età moderna.

Etymology: età comes from Latin aetas, meaning life or lifetime; cognate with English age and related terms in other Romance languages. The word carries both temporal and developmental connotations and can be combined with adjectives to specify different kinds of age, such as età cronologica, età biologica, età legale.

Types of age: età cronologica refers to calendar age counted from birth; età biologica describes physiological condition and may differ from chronological age; età legale is the age at which a person gains rights or assumes responsibilities, varying by country and context (voting, driving, marriage, consent); età mentale denotes cognitive development, used in psychology and education.

In demography and policy, age-related indicators such as age structure, median age and life expectancy help describe a population and plan for social needs. Culturally, age is linked to rites of passage, social roles and norms that shape expectations of behavior at different life stages.