▪ I. † aˈgree, adv. Obs.
[a. Fr. à gré, f. à to, at + gré, earlier gred, gret, that which pleases, gree, liking or pleasure:—L. grāt-um that which is pleasant or gratifying.]
According to one's liking; pleasantly, kindly, in good part. to take a-gree, to take kindly, or in good part, to receive with satisfaction.
| c 1400 Rom. Rose 4349 Whom I ne fonde froward ne felle, But toke agree alle hool my play. |
Also anglicized as in, at, to gree: see gree n.
| 1366 Mandeville xxix. 295 That God take hire Servyse to gree. c 1400 Rom. Rose 42 God graunte me in gre that she it take. c 1430 Lydg. Bochas (1554) i. xviii. 33 b, Rightful iudges his sentence toke atgree. |
▪ II. agree, v.
(əˈgriː)
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 humour 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 agre 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 favourably; to favour. (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. a 1884 Mod. (Book-keeping) Have you agreed the balance? No, we have not yet agreed the items of the accounts. 1928 Times 15 Aug. 7/5 The actual figures of profits were agreed between the accountants. |
5. To arrange, concert, or settle (a thing in which various interests are concerned).
| 1523 Ld. Berners Froissart I. 86 Whan that this sayde trewse was agreed. 1658–9 Neville in Burton 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. 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? 1928 Britain's Industr. Future (Liberal Ind. Inquiry) 140 These councils should have the power to agree factory rules. 1959 Bookseller 13 June 1982/1 The Russians have agreed a wide list of categories. 1963 Listener 23 May 877/3 Miss Laski's letter..shows once more the difficulty of agreeing a definition of mysticism. |
III. To become well-disposed, to accede.
† 6. refl. (from 3.) To make oneself well-disposed, to become favourable, 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 tr. Littleton, Tenures 110 a, I agree me to the graunte made to you. |
7. intr. (from refl.) To become favourable; to give consent, to accede. a. with inf., or subord. clause.
| 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 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 Shakes. 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 pass.
| 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 Shakes. Com. Err. i. i. 61 Unwilling I agreed. 1851 Mrs. Browning Casa Guidi 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 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 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] tr. 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 Bp. O. 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 Shakes. 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 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. clause. Also spec. in phr. to agree to differ (or disagree), to agree to cease trying to convince one another.
| 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. 1785 J. Wedgwood Let. 3 Oct. (1965) 285 The principal difficulty..is to agree to differ, to agree in impartial investigation and candid argument. 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. a 1884 Mod. They agreed that the matter should stand over for the present. 1925 A. Huxley Those Barren Leaves v. iv. 369 There we must agree to differ. But even if it is impossible to get at reality, the fact that reality exists and is manifestly very different from what we ordinarily suppose it to be, surely shows some light on this horrible death business. 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §347/2 Disagree, agree to disagree, beg to differ. 1977 Guardian Weekly 27 Feb. 9/3 ‘We shall agree to disagree,’ a press-weary Israeli official said last week. |
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 Shakes. Merch. V. 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. 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. a. 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.) I couldn't agree (with you) more: I am in complete agreement (with you).
| 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 tr. 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. 1942 J. B. Priestley Black-out in Gretley viii. 185 ‘I couldn't agree with you more,’ he said, grinning. 1953 ― Try it Again in Best One-Act Plays 1952–3 109 Kramer. Whatever I do can hardly make things worse. Helen. I couldn't agree more. 1960 L. Cooper Accomplices ii. i. 77 You think it's a nasty cold-blooded business..? I couldn't agree more. |
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 Shakes. 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 B. 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 Shakes. Per. ii. v. 18 Mistress..your choice agrees with mine. 1651 Hobbes Leviathan 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 tr. 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 Shakes. 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 Life II. i. 29 He looked about to see how my Horatius agreed with the topography. |
15. Gram. 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. tr. 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 Shakes. 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 H. 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 Virgin. xvi. 126 She wondered whether the climate would agree with her. Mod. Sea-bathing does not agree with everybody. |
▪ III. † aˈgree, n. Obs.
[f. the vb.]
Agreeing, agreement.
| c 1400 Apol. for Loll. 91 We..may after agre worschip such þingis writun. 1590 Greene Orl. Fur. (1599) 8 Shame you not, Princes, at this bad agree, To wrong a stranger with discourtesie? |