WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
-agon-, root.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- -agon- comes from Greek, where it has the meaning "struggle, fight''. This meaning is found in such words as: agonize, agony, antagonist, protagonist.
ag•on
(ag′ōn, -on, ä gōn′),USA pronunciation n., pl. a•go•nes
-
(ə gō′nēz).USA pronunciation
- Ancient History(in ancient Greece) a contest in which prizes were awarded in any of a number of events, as athletics, drama, music, poetry, and painting.
- Literature(italics) Greek. (in ancient Greek drama) a formalized debate or argumentation, esp. in comedy: usually following the proagon and preceding the parabasis.
- Literatureconflict, esp. between the protagonist and the antagonist.
- Greek agó̄n struggle, contest
- 1650–60
'-agon-' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Catherine of Aragon
- agon
- agonal
- agonic
- agonic line
- agonist
- agonize
- agony
- antagonize
- flexagon
- glucagon
- parabasis
- paragon
- proagon
- quindecagon