1 á-gæti
n. renown, glory, excellence; göra e-t til ágætis sér, as a glory to himself, Fms. xi. 72, 109; reyna á. e-s, to put one on his trial, 142; þú hyggr at engu öðru en ákafa einum ok á., o nly bent upon rushing on and shewing one’s prowess, 389; vegr ok á., fame and glory, Fas. i. 140, Sks. 241. In pl. glorious deeds; mikil á. vóni sögð frá Gunnari, Nj. 41: in the phrase, göra e-t at ágætum, to laud, praise highly, Fms. viii. 139, vii. 147: in the proverb, hefir hverr til sins ágætis nokkuð, every one’s fame rests upon some deed of his own, no one gets his fame for naught, the context implies, a n d thou ha s t done what will make thee famous, Nj. 116.
2 á-gæti
2. in COMPDS ágætis- and ágæta- are prefixed to a great many words, esp. in mod. use, to express something capital, excellent; ágæta-skjótr, adj. very swift, Fms. vii. 169; ágæta-vel, adv. excellently well, Nj. 218: and even to substantives, e. g. ágæta-gripr and ágætis-gripr, m. a capital thing, Fms. ix. 416, x. 254, Ld. 202; ágæta-naut, n. a fine ox, Eb. 318; ágætis-maðr, m. a great man, Landn. 324, Fms. vii. 102, xi. 329.