Ag. Administrative Officer (2025)

Hello everybody,

What is the meaning of "Ag." in "Ag. Administrative Officer".

Context: That is the position of somebody of somebody who works at the University, with administrative duties, I think he is the person in charge of his section.

Thanks for your help!

Hi belano

I've never come across it (I don't think it's used in the UK) but it looks as though the abbreviation Ag. is used in some varieties of English to mean "acting" - here's an example:

Mr. Sijuwola had a stint with the Kwara State Printing & Publishing Corporation, Ilorin between 1979 and 1981 and the Nigerian Television Authority, Ilorin between October 1981 to March 1986 before he took up an appointment with the University of Ilorin as a Principal Internal Auditor in 1986. He rose through the ladder as Chief Internal Auditor, Chief Accountant and Deputy Bursar before his appointment as the Acting Bursar in August 2002. He held the post of Ag. Bursar unitl his present appointment which was done by August, 2007

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(source)

Where did you find it, out of interest?

Hello Loob,

It makes sense... Yes, I think it should be that.

I found it in Mauritius.

Thanks for your help!

Loob said:

See Also

Full stops/periods and spaces with initials in different styles

I've never come across it (I don't think it's used in the UK) but it looks as though the abbreviation Ag. is used in some varieties of English to mean "acting" - here's an example:
(source)

Where did you find it, out of interest?

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How beautifully brilliant are you. I've found it in Kenya, Trinidad, Tobago, Mauritius and Belize.

I've seen "Ag" in some countries where English is a second language, but not in NZ.

In NZE, it would either be written out as "Acting Administrative Officer"
or
"A/Administrative Officer" for short.

belano75 said:

What is the meaning of "Ag." in "Ag. Administrative Officer".

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hwanin said:

Hi there, "AG" seems to be "Attorney General" of the Justice Department.

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Note that
1. it is Ag., not AG
2. In the context, "Attorney General Administrative Officer" makes no sense.

PaulQ said:

Note that
1. it is Ag., not AG
2. In the context, "Attorney General Administrative Officer" makes no sense.

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Thank you for your precise response!

So we still don't know what is "Ag." then?

This seems to be the meaning:

Loob said:

Ag. is used in some varieties of English to mean "acting" - here's an example:

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hwanin said:

The link is down, but I'm not sure, why would Ag. with capital A and dot in the end means acting.
When you write an abbreviation, it includes the first letters, not the first and last letters of a single word with a dot at the end.

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If it comes from the Latin agere (see #9), the full word would be agens ('acting') and the abbreviation would be the first two letters: ag.

Roxxxannne said:

If it comes from the Latin agere (see #9), the full word would be agens ('acting') and the abbreviation would be the first two letters: ag.

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That's true, and may be the explanation in this specific case.

My hunch is that the abbreviation is derived from English rather than Latin. It is more prevalent in Australia, Kenya, Mauritius, Belize and the Caribbean, where I wouldn't have thought there was a high degree of familiarity with Latin.

There is the version with and without the final full stop, and there's also a/g - where the slash seems to split up a word (like a/c for account).

natkretep said:

My hunch is that the abbreviation is derived from English rather than Latin.

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What would it come from if it's derived from English, Nat?

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EDIT. Answering my own question.... I've just read this Wiki discussion page Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2015 May 4 - Wikipedia where one suggestion is that it could represent the first and last letters of the word "acting".