wiekiem

Wiekiem is the instrumental singular form of the Polish noun wiek, which denotes age, lifespan, or a period/era. It is a grammatical inflected form and does not function as an independent lexical item outside its case form. The base noun wiek derives from Proto-Slavic vekъ and has cognates in several Slavic languages, such as Czech věk and Russian vek, sharing related meanings of age or era.

Common expression for specifying age in Polish uses the preposition w with the locative form: w wieku … lat, meaning “at the age of … years.” The instrumental form wiekiem appears in contexts requiring the instrumental case, for example after the preposition z, which governs instrumental: z wiekiem na twarzy pojawiają się zmarszczki. In everyday speech the locative construction with wiek is far more common for stating age.

The instrumental form also occurs in literary or formal language to convey meanings related to “with age” or “as one grows older,” though such usage is less common in colloquial speech. It is more likely to be encountered in fixed expressions or older texts, where the instrumental case serves stylistic or emphatic purposes.

Related terms include wiek (the noun for age or era) and wiekowy (an adjective meaning age-related or of age). In historical contexts, wiek is used to denote a period or era, as in phrases like wiek renesansu meaning the Renaissance era. The word forms around wiek reflect the rich range of Polish inflection for indicating age and time.