agent

a•gent

[[t]ˈeɪ dʒənt[/t]] n.

1) a person or business authorized to act on another's behalf

2) a person or thing that acts or has the power to act

3) a natural force or object producing or used for obtaining specific results:

Many insects are agents of fertilization[/ex]

4) an active cause; an efficient cause

5) a person who works for or manages an agency

6) gov a person who acts in an official capacity for a government agency, as a law-enforcement officer or a spy:

an FBI agent[/ex]

7) gram. a linguistic form or construction, usu. a noun or noun phrase, denoting an animate being that performs or causes the action expressed by the verb, as the police in

The car was found by the police[/ex]

8) a representative of a business firm, esp. a traveling salesperson

9) chem. a substance that causes a chemical reaction

Compare reagent

10) pha a drug or chemical capable of eliciting a biological response

11) pat an organism that is a cause or vector of disease

12) cvb to represent (a person or thing); act as an agent on:

to agent a manuscript; Who agented that deal?[/ex]

•

Etymology: 1570–80; < L agent-, s. of agēns, prp. of agere to drive, do, act