again again

Origin:
before 900; Middle English agayn, ageyn, Old English ongegn opposite (to) = on on, in (see a-¹) + gegn straight; cognate with Old High German ingagan, Old Norse igegn

Pronunciation note
By far the most common pronunciation of again, in all parts of the United States, is

[uh-gen] with the same vowel heard in yet and pep. The pronunciation

[uh-geyn] rhyming with pain, occurs chiefly in the Atlantic states. Again said as

[uh-gin] with the vowel of pit or sip, or with a vowel somewhere between [e] and [i] is the common pronunciation in much of the South, where [e] and [i] tend to become neutralized, or more like one another, before [m] and [n] leading to a lack of noticeable distinction between such pairs as pen and pin, ten and tin.

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins

World English Dictionary

again (əˈɡɛn, əˈɡeɪn)

—*adv*
1.	another or second time; once more; anew: he had to start again
2.	once more in a previously experienced or encountered place, state, or condition: he is ill again; he came back again
3.	in addition to the original amount, quantity, etc (esp in the phrases as much again; half as much again)
4.	(sentence modifier) on the other hand: he might come and then again he might not
5.	besides; also: she is beautiful and, again, intelligent
6.	archaic in reply; back: he answered again to the questioning voice
7.	again and again continuously; repeatedly
8.	(Caribbean) (used with a negative) any more; any longer: I don't eat pumpkin again

—*sentence connector*
9.	moreover; furthermore: again, it could be said that he is not dead

[Old English ongegn opposite to, from a-² + gegn straight]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

again

O.E. ongean "toward, opposite, against," from on "on" + -gegn "against, toward," for a sense of "lined up facing, opposite," and "in the opposite direction, returning." For -gegn, cf. O.N. gegn "straight, direct," Dan. igen "against," O.Fris. jen, O.H.G. gegin, Ger. gegen "against, toward," Ger. entgegen

"against, in opposition to." In O.E., eft was the main word for "again," but this often was strengthened by ongean, which became the principal word by 13c. Norse influence is responsible for the hard -g-. Differentiated from against 16c. in southern writers, again becoming an adverb only, and against took over as prep. and conjunction, but again clung to all senses in northern and Scottish dialect.

Matching Quote

"Most works of literature have a beginning, middle, and an end. Most works of pornography do not. A typical piece of pornographic fiction will usually have some kind of crude excuse for a beginning, but having once begun, it goes on and on and ends nowhere. This impulse or compulsion to repeat, to repeat endlessly, is one of pornography's most striking qualities. A pornographic work of fiction characteristically develops by unremitting repetition and minute mechanical variation—the words that may describe the process are again, again, again, and more, more, more. We also observed that although pornography is obsessed with the idea of pleasure, of infinite pleasure, the idea of gratification, of an end to pleasure (pleasure being here an endless experience of retentiveness, without release) cannot develop. If form in art consists in the arousal in the reader of certain expectations and the fulfillment of those expectations, then in this context too pornography is resistant to form and opposed to art. For fulfillment implies completion, gratification, an end; and it is as an end, a conclusion of any kind, that pornography most resists. The ideal pornographic novel, I should repeat, would go on forever."

-Steven Marcus

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again again

a·gain