agape means in a state of astonishment, wonder, expectation, or eager attention; as with mouth hanging open.
agape is pronounced /əˈɡeɪp/.
Why “agape” is a great word
A state of being wide open, especially in astonishment or wonder, or the selfless, unconditional love central to Christian theology. The adjective and adverb are from the English prefix a- (expressing state) + gape ('to open the mouth wide'), first attested in 1667 by John Milton in 'Paradise Lost'; the noun sense ascends from Ancient Greek ἀγάπη (agápē, 'brotherly love, charity') as used in Christian texts. Unlike eros, which burns with possessive desire, or agog, which thrums with eager curiosity, agape is a receptive, self-emptying openness. It is the jaw slackened before a sudden mountain vista, the unbarred door of a hospice at midnight, the profound silence where judgment is utterly suspended—a posture of the soul that is both a gasp and a gift, requiring the self to stand unguarded, utterly exposed.
Etymology
From a- + gape. First known use by John Milton in Paradise Lost (1667).
adj
- In a state of astonishment, wonder, expectation, or eager attention; as with mouth hanging open.“[…] in himself was all his state,
More solemn then the tedious pomp that waits
On Princes, when thir rich Retinue long
Of Horses led, and Grooms besmeard with Gold
Dazles the croud, and sets them all agape.”
- Wide open.“With his mouth agape and his hands clenched, Rufus Dawes, incapable of further speech, made a last effort to nod assent, but his head fell upon his breast; the next moment, the flickering light, the gloomy prison, the eager face of the doctor, and the astonished face of Vickers, vanished from before his straining eyes.”
adv
- In a state of astonishment, wonder, expectation, or eager attention.“Three of us--two biologists and I--were crouched behind a huge boulder at the water's edge and staring agape as the largest bear I ever saw came toward us”
- Open wide.“Its mouth yawned agape”
noun
- The love of God for mankind, or the benevolent love of Christians for others.
- Spiritual, altruistic, beneficial love which wills good for others.
- A love feast, especially one held in the early Christian Church in connection with the Eucharist.
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