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Brit. /
nju
e
d
/, U.S. /n(j)u ed/ Forms: also with lower-case initials. [< NEW adj. + AGE n.]
A. n.
1. A new era of human history, or of the history of a particular society or nation; spec. a name given to the Age of Aquarius (see AQUARIUS n. 3) which, according to astrological progression, the world entered in the late 20th or early 21st century, and which is believed to signal the beginning of a new spiritual awareness and collective consciousness.
In earlier use, not always a fixed compound, and freq. with lower-case initial(s).
In the specific sense originally heralded in theosophical and mystical writings of the late 19th cent., and from the 1970s associated more generally with a popular ‘alternative’ culture which rejects many modern Western values in favour of a more integrated approach combining aspects of astrology, Christianity, and other religious and philosophical thought, and extending into such additional areas as medicine and ecology.
1640 W. VAUGHAN Church Militant 93 That Parcell of false Babels Mystery,..in the rise of this New Age returnes to Hell, and dyes.
1757-9 W. D
UNCOMBE tr. Horace
Secular Ode in
Wks. of Horace II. 56 Oft as th'alloted Term of Years Returns, and a new Age appears.
1804-8 W. BLAKE Milton Pref., in
Poetry & Prose (1965) 94 Rouze up O Young Men of the New Age! set your foreheads against the ignorant Hirelings!
1841 W. W
ARE Julian II. xix. 229 So constantly were their eyes directed that way, and their hopes to one day returning and dwelling in their native land beneath the power of their own King, in the new age that should unfold, that [etc.].
1843 (
title) The new age, concordium gazette and temperance advocate.
1860 W. D. G
ALLAGHER Better Day in W. T. Coggeshall
Poets & Poetry of West 148/2 Workers high, and workers low, Weary workers every where, For the New Age rounding to Like a planet, now prepare!
1894 (
title) The new age: a weekly record of Christian culture, social service, and literary life.
1944 A. A. B
AILEY Discipleship in New Age i. 32 This will usher in The New Age wherein five kingdoms in nature will be recognised as existing side by side on earth.
1971 D. S
PANGLER Revelation (1976) xi. 108 We are now leaving one age and entering another; hence, the scientific basis for calling this a New Age.
1988 Sydney Morning Herald 14 May 65/1 The New Age is booming. Australians spend $50 million a year on
it
from crystals to float tanks.
2000 Independent 21 June
I. 4/5 A tutorial on empowered employees throwing off their strait-jackets by contributing to the up/down dialogue because bottom-up and top-down styles work best in the New Age.
2. As a mass noun: that which belongs to or is characteristic of the New Age; spec. New Age philosophy or culture; New Age music.
1984 New Yorker 26 Mar. 39/1 New-age is taking things, often old things, and making them applicable to the solving of problems in the environment today. 1985 Newsweek 13 May 68/1 New Age is a loosely defined school that encompasses the lyrical jazz/folk of 20 Windham Hill artists, the airy harp fantasies of Vollenweider, the spacey synthesizer noodlings of Japanese artists. 1989 Penguin Encycl. Pop. Mus. 850/2 Brian Eno's white noise and Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells are antecedents of New Age, as is the meditative sound of Spectrum Suite '74 by Stephen Halpern. 1998 Independent 24 Apr. I. 17/1 Glenn Hoddle's admission of reliance on a faith healer has renewed debate on a subject that has faded from media view since New Age became old hat.
B. adj. Of, relating to, or characteristic of the New Age (in the specific sense); advocating or following the ‘alternative’ philosophy or culture associated with it.
1949 A. A. B
AILEY Destiny of Nations 46 Consequent New Age concepts are playing upon the sensitive minds of the race.
1971 D. S
PANGLER Vision of Findhorn 5 Findhorn strengthens this movement, sometimes called the ‘New Age movement’, and becomes a cornerstone of the universal foundation of new, inspired consciousness.
1987 Sunday Express Mag. 23 Aug 31/3 They are very keen on New Age
technologywindmills and solar energy.
1992 New Republic 18 May 5/3 The role-playing we did regarding feelings toward police during traffic stops..was equally New Age.
2001 C. F
REELAND But is it Art? iii. 68 The New Age trendiness of people who find models of cosmic harmony in Aboriginal Americans.
COMPOUNDS
New Age music n. a style of modern music influenced by New Age ideas, which characteristically seeks to develop a mood of relaxation in the listener by reproducing sounds from the natural world, and by the use of light melodic harmonies and improvisation.
1985 Daily News (N.Y.) 16 June 20/1 He could have been talking about *New Age music, a supremely mellow movement that has mushroomed in recent years as more Americans have sought a balance with nature and a sanctuary from stressful life styles. 1997 National Geographic Traveler July-Aug. 28/1 The darkened gallery filled with otherworldly New Age music.
New Age traveller n. orig. and chiefly Brit. a person, usually an adherent of New Age thinking, who rejects the conventions of contemporary society and adopts an itinerant, typically communal lifestyle, with no regular employment.
1986 Guardian 10 Feb. 30/8 In his big blue overcoat and gumboots was the red bearded Sid Rawle, a longstanding member of the party who lives with and speaks for ‘the *new age travellers’ in the peace camps.
1993 R. LOWE &
W. SHAW Travellers 138 New age travellers of the seventies and early eighties were driven by visions, ideals, inspiration. The influx of what I would call economic refugees has changed it completely.
1998 Sunday Star Times (
N.Z.
)
(Electronic ed.) 11 Jan., Historically, squatting has been a family affair, it is only now that it has become associated with new-age travellers and society fringe dwellers.
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