adj. [v. the words above, from á- intens. and geta—gat—gátu, to get and to record; the old etymology in glossaries of the last century from the Greek αγαθός cannot be admitted], famous, goodly, excellent; á. maðr um allt land, Nj. 106; á. at afli, Edda 19; ágætir gimsteinar, precious stones, Fms. i. 15; á. skjöldr, Eg. 705; compar, mun hann verða ágætari (more famous) en allir þínir frændr, Fms. i. 256; superl., ágætaztr, Nj. 282, Eg. 311; ágæztr, contr., Edda 5, Íb. 14, Fms. vii. 95, Greg. 53. In the Landn. ‘maðr ágætr’ is freq. used in a peculiar sense, viz. a noble man, nearly synonymous to gæðingr in the Orkneys, or hersir in Norway, e. g. 143, 149, 169, 190, 198, 201, 203, 279, 281, 308, 312; hersir á., 173, etc.; cp. also Kristni S. ch. I.