also 4–6 agre, aggre. [a. OFr. agré-er, cogn. w. Pr., Sp., Pg. agradar, It. aggradare:—late L. *adgrātā-re, aggr-, f. ad to + grātāre, to make agreeable, f. grāt-us agreeable. (Cf. adæquāre, aggravāre, alleviāre.) Also aphetized as GREE.]
I. To please or be pleased.
† 1. trans. To be to the liking of (any one), to suit the humor of, to please. (Obj. orig. indirect, dat. in Fr.) Obs. a. Of a thing.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, I. 409. If harme agre me, ye, wherto than I pleyne? [S’a mal mio grado, il lamentar che vale?]
c. 1450. Merlin, 82. Yef the kynges profer myght not agte the lady, and … hir frendes.
† b. Of a person: To please, to satisfy. Obs.
c. 1430. Lydg., Bochas, IX. xxxviii b (1554), 217 a. Great comfort Of trust I should agreen your noblesse.
c. 1450. Lonelich, Graal, II. 105. Ȝow, sire, agreen I wolde ful pleyn.
1475. Bk. Noblesse (1860), 30. Finding bothe horsmete and mannysmete to youre soudeours … without contenting or agreing hem.
† 2. To be pleased with (prendre à gré); to receive or take in good part; to accept favorably; to favor. (Cf. Fr. agréez mes respects.) Also absol. Obs.
a. 1500. MS. Harl. 7526, 35. Be mercyfulle, agre, take parte and sumwhat pardoone.
1605. Bacon, Adv. Learn., II. xiv. § 3 (1873). The principles to be agreed by all.
1642. Vind. of the King, 1. Those who will not agree the Ceremonies.
II. To make agreeable or harmonious.
† 3. trans. To make (persons) pleased with, or well-disposed towards each other; to reconcile, make friends. Obs.
1489. Plumpton, Corr., 82. The dayes men cannot agre us.
1530. Palsgr., 619/2. I make at one, I agre folkes that were fallen out.
1587. Holinshed, Chron., II. 54. To agree the king and the pope. Ibid., I. 188/1. His coosen … the which trauelled to agree him with the king.
1655. J. Jennings, Elise, 86. The governour, desirous to agree them, had straitly forbid them fighting.
4. To bring into harmony (things that differ); to conciliate or arrange (a difference). Now only of discrepant accounts and the like.
1572. Lament. Lady Scotl., in Sc. Poems of 16th C., II. 247. To aggre this ciuile difference.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., II. iv. 3. Some troublous uprore, Whereto he drew in haste it to agree.
1638. Chillingworth, Relig. Prot., I. iii. § 7. 130. Meanes of agreeing differences are either Rationall … or voluntary.
1653. Holcroft, Procopius, I. 16. Having agreed the War with the Franks.
1706. Estcourt, Fair Example, V. I. 69. Do but agree the matter between you.
1785. T. Jefferson, Corr., Wks. 1859, I. 381. His difference with the Dutch is certainly agreed.
Mod. (Book-keeping). Have you agreed the balance? No, we have not yet agreed the items of the accounts.
† 5. To arrange, concert or settle (a thing in which various interests are concerned). Obs.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froissart, I. 86. Whan that this sayde trewse was agreed.
1658–9. Neville, in Burton’s Diary (1828), III. 194. If you leave it without agreeing the security.
1679. Burnet, Hist. Ref., I. 586. The king sent Sir Ralph Sadler to him, to agree the marriage. Ibid. (1715), Own Time, II. 380. He had agreed a match for him with his brother the duke of Zell for his daughter.
1718. Pope, Iliad, IV. 186. Did I for this agree The solemn truce?
III. To become well-disposed, to accede.
† 6. refl. (from 3.) To make oneself well-disposed, to become favorable, to accede, consent to. Obs.
c. 1450. Merlin, 84. The kynge hadde a-greed hym-self all to theire ordenaunce.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froissart, I. cccvi. 461. Dame, I agre me well to your desyre.
1574. trans. Littleton, Tenures, 110 a. I agree me to the graunte made to you.
7. intr. (from refl.) To become favorable; to give consent, to accede. a. with inf., or subord. cl.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, III. 81. Ye wolde … agreen that I may ben he.
1597. Daniel, Civ. Wares, II. xli. The Realme … will never gree To have a right succession overthrowne.
1658–9. Baynes, in Burton’s Diary (1828), IV. 123. The Act of Union agrees, that they shall have thirty members.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., II. 119. He reluctantly agreed … that some indulgence should be granted to the Presbyterians.
1860. Tyndall, Glac., I. § 16. 104. He then agreed to make the trial.
b. with to (a proposal, conditions, etc.)
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, VIII. 3649. All agreit to þe gate with a gode wille.
c. 1450. Merlin, 85. Will ye … agreen to the acorde and ordenaunce of these worthy lordes?
1475. Caxton, Jason, 35. They that at the firste requeste of their louers agree to them ought to be ashamed.
1535. Coverdale, 1 Macc. i. 42. All the Heithen agreed to the commaundement of kynge Antiochus.
1591. Shaks., 1 Hen. VI., V. v. 88. Post … to France, Agree to any couenants.
1759. Robertson, Hist. Scotl., I. II. 105. It was not possible to agree to a proposal so extraordinary and unexpected.
1876. Freeman, Norm. Conq., III. xii. 193. Till he agreed to the hard conditions.
c. absol. and passive.
1461. Paston Lett., 398, II. 23. If ye wol have her hom to you for a seacon … my mastre is agreed.
1476. Plumpton, Corr., 37. You must desier the sheriffe to serve it, yf so be that ye agre not.
1534. Ld. Berners, Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546), N v. Thoughe fortune denie hym at one howre, yet at an other time, she agreeth.
1590. Shaks., Com. Err., I. i. 61. Unwilling I agreed.
1851. Mrs. Browning, Casa Guidi Wind., 46. Austrian Metternich Can fix no yoke unless the neck agree.
d. with clause: To concede, grant, accede to the opinion, that a thing is so; formerly, a thing to be so.
1606. G. W[oodcocke], Hist. Justine, 86. Which grace though the Godds had not agreed to be due vnto her, yet [etc.].
1658–9. Morrice, in Burton’s Diary (1828), IV. 190. I can never agree that to be law which is dissonant to reason.
1765. Harris, Three Treat., I. 14. We have agreed it, replied he, to be necessary.
Mod. I agree that he is the ablest of the candidates.
† 8. To accede to the opinion of (a person); to assent; passing into sense of agree with (12). Obs.
1526. Tindale, Acts v. 40. To him they agreed [so Cranm., Genev., 1611; Wyclif, Rhem., consented].
a. 1556. Cranmer, Wks., I. 25. Cyril … agreed to Nestorius in the substance of the thing that was eaten.
1561. T. N[orton], trans. Calvin’s Instit., I. 17. They were by no other meane brought to agree vnto him.
1580. Baret, Alvearie, A 239. To Agree to one or to be of his opinion.
1641. W. Cartwright, Lady Errant, III. i. (1651), 31. I must not agree t’you, to pass by What you have said.
IV. To come into harmony.
9. intr. (? for refl.) To come into accord or harmony, to become of one mind, make up differences, become friends. Const. with. Still dialectal ‘Kiss and ’gree again.’
1489. Caxton, Faytes of Armes, I. xix. 60. He aggreed and made peas wyth mayencyens.
1535. Coverdale, 2 Macc. xi. 26. Yf thou sende vnto them & agre with them.
1548. Hall, Chron. (1809), 3. If you of yourselfes will not agre, I will not study how to agre you.
1597. Daniel, Civ. Wares, III. (R.). Till all inflamed they all at once agree.
1723. Blackall, Wks., I. 260. To agree with our Adversary while we are in the way to Judgement. (See Bible Matt. v. 25.)
10. To come into accord as to something. a. spec. To come to terms about the price of anything, to bargain, contract. ? Obs.
1526. Tindale, Matt. xx. 2. And he agreed with the labourers for a peny a daye [so 1611; Wyclif, Rhem., made covenant].
1580. Baret, Alvearie, A 239. To agree or consent as concerning the act or deede, price, etc.
1669. Pepys, Diary (1877), V. 431. To the cabinet-shops, to look out, and did agree, for a cabinet to give my wife.
b. Const. on, as to, (of obs.) a matter or point.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froissart, I. lxiii. 86. And so contynued a xv. dayes, and agreed of no poynt of effect.
1603. Greenwey, Tacitus Ann., VI. vii. (1622), 131. To lay downe such things as they agree of.
1607. Shaks., Timon, III. vi. 76. To let the meat coole, ere we can agree vpon the first place.
1651. Hobbes, Leviathan, II. xxiii. 125. Judges he himself agrees on.
1657. Sir C. Pack, in Burton’s Diary (1828), II. 160. It will be hard for the Committee to agree of names.
1804. W. Taylor, in Ann. Rev., II. 273. A convention has been agreed on relative to this subject.
1876. Freeman, Norm. Conq., III. xii. 104. Terms of reconciliation were readily agreed on.
c. with inf., or subord. cl.
1572. Lament. Lady Scotl., in Sc. Poems of 16th C., II. 248. Ȝe did aggre To crowne and place him in authoritie.
1781. Gibbon, Decl. & F., xl. They agreed to censure the corrupt management of justice and the finances.
1810. Coleridge, Friend, VII. vi. (1867), 379. His lordship and Sir Alexander Ball ‘agreed to differ.’
1852. Dickens, Bleak Ho., II. 43. We … had little in common even before we agreed to differ.
Mod. They agreed that the matter should stand over for the present.
V. To be in harmony.
11. To be in harmony or unison in opinions, feelings, conduct, etc.; to be in sympathy; to live or act together harmoniously; to have no causes of variance. (Simply, or with together; or const. with.)
1548. Udall, etc., Matt. xxviii. (R.). My spirite agreeth not with the spirite of this worlde.
1596. Shaks., Merch. Ven., II. ii. 107. How doost thou and thy Master agree? I haue brought him a present; how gree you now?
1639. Fuller, Holy War, II. xi. (1840), 63. These cities … agreed so well together, that they were called sisters. Ibid. (1642), Holy & Prof. St., V. xix. 438. It is probable that in Noahs Ark the wolf agreed with the lambe.
1720. Watts, Divine Songs, xvii. Birds in their little nests agree.
1726. Gay, Fables, I. xxi. 43. In ev’ry age and clime we see, Two of a trade can ne’er agree.
1807. Crabbe, Par. Reg., I. 88. And where they once agreed, to cavil now. Adage, ‘Friends agree best separate.’
12. To be of the same mind as to particular points; to concur with a person in an opinion, as to a matter, that such is the fact, or (obs.) such to be the fact. (See also 7, 8.)
1494. Fabyan, I. vii. 12. The more partie of wryters agreen, that he ruled this Ile of Brytayne by the terme of xl. yeres.
1580. Baret, Alvearie, A 239. The doctours discent, or the authours doe not agree in this poynt.
1652. Needham, trans. Selden’s Mare Cl., 267. As to … its beginning, they agree with Ingulphus and Hoveden.
1663. Butler, Hudibr., I. i. 426. I would say Eye, for h’ had but one, As most agree, though some say none.
1706. De Foe, Jure Div., I. 3. All Histories agree him to be a Tyrant.
1769. Junius Lett., xxxv. 162. There is one point in which they all agree.
1877. Mozley, Univ. Serm., v. 102. Nobody supposes that the suitors in our courts agree with the judge when he decides against them.
b. Hence, To agree with an opinion or statement.
1530. Palsgr., 418/2. I agree with his opynion touchyng this mater.
1781. Burke, Corr. (1844), II. 412. To know any man’s story that you cannot agree with.
Mod. I do not agree with what has been said by the last speaker.
13. Of things: To be in harmony, to accord, to coincide in any respect. a. simply.
1570. Billingsley, Euclid, I. viii. 7. Thinges which agree together: are equall the one to the other.
1580. Baret, Alvearie, A 239. To agree or accorde: to serue to the purpose, Congruo.
1596. Shaks., Tam. Shr., V. ii. 1. At last … our iarring notes agree.
1611. Bible, Mark xiv. 56. Their witnesse agreed not together.
1782. Priestley, Corr. Chr., I. III. 305. All the accounts sufficiently agree.
1871. Balf. Stewart, Heat, § 70. The two scales agree almost exactly at 62° while they differ sensibly at 72°.
b. with with.
1494. Fabyan, 3. And cause it to agre with other olde storyes.
1608. Shaks., Per., II. v. 18. Mistress … your choice agrees with mine.
1651. Hobbes, Leviath., II. xxv. 131. It best agreeth with the conclusions they would inferre.
1674. Playford, Skill of Mus., II. 94. Till it agree in sound with your Treble open.
1734. trans. Rollin’s Anc. Hist. (1827), I. II. 363. The expedition … cannot agree in time with the siege of Tyre.
1860. Tyndall, Glac., II. § 14. 301. This quite agrees with the views now generally entertained.
14. To be consistent, to answer to, correspond with.
† a. with to. Obs.
1526. Tindale, Mark xiv. 70. Thou arte of Galile, and thy speache agreth therto [so Cranm., Genev., 1611].
1625. Burges, Pers. Tithes, 50. This Statute agreeth to the best English Canon Law.
1659. Hammond, On Ps. xvii. 13. 92. This perfectly agrees to the context.
1708. Swift, Wks. (1755), II. 72. The constitution of the English government … to which the present establishment of the church doth so happily agree.
1788. Reid, Aristotle’s Logic, iv. § 3. 77. It agrees to the rules of the figure … it is also agreeable to all the general rules.
b. with with.
1580. Baret, Alvearie, A 239. The beginning agreeth with the ende, Congruunt extrema primis.
1588. Shaks., Tit. A., I. i. 306. Full well … Agree these Deeds with that proud bragge of thine.
1661. Bramhall, Just. Vind., iii. 40. I do not see why Monasteries might not agree well enough with reformed deuotion.
1661. Boyle, Spring & Weight of Air, III. (1682), 69. I find nothing that agrees not with my Hypothesis.
1838. Macaulay, in Trevelyan’s Life, II. i. 29. He looked about to see how my Horatius agreed with the topography.
15. Gramm. To be in ‘concord’; to take the same gender, number, case or person; as happens in inflected languages to words in apposition, and to substantives and their attributive words, whether adjective, verb or relative.
1530. Palsgr., Introd., 38. Adjectyves agre onely in gendre and nombre, but theyr verbes agre with theyr nominatyve cases in nombre and parsone.
1669. Milton, Gram., II. Concords, Wks. 1847, 468. An adjectiue with his substantiue … agree[th] in gender and case.
1881. Mason, Eng. Gram., § 465. Pronouns must agree in gender, number, and person with the nouns for which they stand.
16. To be agreeable to, or in harmony with the nature or character of.
† a. To be suitable, appropriate, consonant to. Obs.
1541. R. Copland, Guydon’s Quest. Cyrurg. Other maner of byndynge … proprely agreeth to depe woundes.
1551. Turner, Herbal, I. (1568), 114. We have no herbe in Englande … to whome all thes hole descriptions do agre.
1586. J. Hooker, Giraldus’s Hist. Irel., in Holinsh., II. 153/2. Interred in all honorable maner, as to his estate did agree.
1586. T. B., trans. La Primaudaye’s Fr. Acad., II. (1594), 17. The worke of the creation can agree to none but to God only.
1637. Gillespie, Eng.-Pop. Cerem., III. viii. 196. The power of Ecclesiasticall jurisdiction doth no more agree to the King, then the power of Ecclesiasticall order.
1662. More, Antid. agst. Ath., II. ii. (1712), 45. That Hypothesis … which will agree universally to the Air.
1671. J. Webster, Metallogr., i. 15. Reason agreeth thereto.
† b. To do well with: formerly said of a person agreeing or doing well with food, climate, etc. Obs.
1525. Ld. Berners, Froissart, II. ciii. 301. To agree with the ayre not accustomed before.
1530. Palsgr., 419/1. I agre with meate or drinke, I can away wit it.
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., V. i. 28. Because your appetites and your disgestions doo’s not agree with it [the leek], I would desire you to eat it.
1681. Burnet, Hist. Ref., II. 162. Fagius, not agreeing with this air, died soon after.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., II. 361. Lest the Tree Translated, shou’d not with the Soil agree.
c. now only of food, climate, work agreeing or doing well with a person, etc.
1661. Lovell, Hist. Anim. & Min. Others are more grosse, tough and hard, agreeing chiefely with country persons and such as labour.
1669. in Phil. Trans., IV. 981. The Baths agree (as the vulgar speaks) with Brass, but not with Iron.
1796. Mrs. Glasse, Cookery, xv. 270. Some boil it with milk, and it is very good where it will agree.
1855. Bain, Senses & Intell., II. ii. § 5 (1864), 157. Whether a substance will agree or disagree with the stomach.
1858. Thackeray, Virginians, xvi. 126. She wondered whether the climate would agree with her.
Mod. Sea-bathing does not agree with everybody.
